For the U shaped bends you will want to align the star mark with the sharpie mark in order to get the desired measurement. Definitely comment any questions!
Yeah I watched a short where there was an apprentice trying to bend a piece and the guy was saying he was doing it wrong. But he was doing it just like the guy was in this video
I have had two projects using EMT conduit, and I have struggled to figure out where I should start my bend, etc. I wish this video was out years ago, because you did an excellent job explaining.
That is honestly difficult work! I would use this vehical later on! Anyway! Not the difficult meter! I know your aware! I just can't this is tough enough!
Thank you! I just started in the low voltage industry 4 months ago now I’m learning how to bend pipe for work. This will definitely help me get that raise come December!
Dave thank you so much for making this simple informative & instructional video for people like me. I've been reading the instructions but watching a good vid like yours was a lot easier & makes me think I might be able to do it too
Thank you very much for making an explanation that finally makes sense to me. I have watched a few electrical videos on how to bend and they were extremely confusing. I bet you would be good at explaining Geometry and Calculus too.
Dave, thank you for making this understandable to me. My first back to back bend came out perfectly and I had no room for error. Thanking the LORD here for your instruction! Thank you too!!!!
Perfect, just what I needed! You might call attention to how the star must align with the mark on the pipe for the U bend. I had to watch it twice to be sure.
Thanks man great video we didn’t have to listen to what you had for breakfast or your girl friend in high school. Very clear streight to the point thanks again.
The bend radius on the bender: is that the centerline radius, inside radius, or outside radius? And are these tools available with different bend radii?
Another nice tip is when welding pipe together is to take a hole cutter same size as your pipe use half of it to cut a moon shape at end of pipe should line up perfect to weld the pipes together
Very coll and insightful video!!! Is it possible to use this to bend and modify a Bicycle handlebar? It already has a bend in it, although its very large and I wish to to make the radius or curve slightly smaller. Do I need a different radius?
Hi! Great video. One question, using the bender what is the smallest distance between either side could you feasibly bend to? Could you bend to 7 or 9 inches or are there smaller benders you'd need?
Thanks! This was awesome, makes me want to run down to Lowe's & get the bender & some conduit just for fun! 👍 (mebbe I'll wait 'til the snow is gone...)
I think as long as the rebar fits in the bender it will work but I have never tried it. You could buy a bender and leave the tag on it and return it if it doesn't work.
If I'm gonna make a 45° bend on 1/2" EMT and my sharpie mark is lined up with the⭐. The bender has a 45° line on the head and I'm pulling the pipe down. What part of the piece of EMT lines up with the angle line? The top of the pipe, bottom or center for the correct angle? 🔌
I wonder if I could use this tool to make a set of 4 foot wide arches to go over/into my 4' x 12' wood raised garden bed? That would be more of a rainbow-arch type shape to make 'hoops' with so I can then cover them with insect mesh, greenhouse plastic or frost cloth to protect crops or extend my growing season?
It would be perfect for a project like that. If you need to connect any pieces of conduit together, our connectors may be of help. Let us know if you have any questions!
Not at the moment. We normally only do some basic bends for our DIY projects. In the future I will look into doing another tutorial with more advanced techniques. Thanks for the comment
Is there a way to use that size bender to make an arch that extends a few feet? I want a frame for a 4' raised bed but don't want the flat top I'd get with two 90 degree bends. An arch sheds snow better. Do you know if I could start the bend then reposition the bender to keep going until the straight ends are facing the same direction? It does not have to be perfect or symmetrical by any means. I'd prefer an arch but maybe a combination of a 90 in the middle and two 45s on the ends would work (like the profile of a house)? Like this without the heart on top, if that makes sense. 💌
Yes you could! It would take a bit of patience and planning, but you have the right idea. Make small bends every few inches and it will end up being a larger arch. You CANduit! 🥸
You can use a magnetic protractor/angle finder to figure out where 45 degrees would be on the bender and then mark it with a sharpie. If you watch the video for making circles for w the link for Woodinville where he explains it way better. Hopefully that makes sense.
@@joecosier22 It does make sense, thank you. I may try the 45-90-45 combo and the semicircle and see which works best. I used the width of the bed as the diameter of the circle and found the circumference. Half of that would be the distance between the two outermost bends along the length of the pipe. That should make an arch fit nicely in the raised beds. Thanks so much for your input, I will check out the video.
Get hoop bender at johnny's seeds. Can use 1/2" & 3/4" pipe. Makes a hoop 4' wide and about 3.5' tall from 10' pipe lengths. I have dozens of beds covered using these hoops 4' on center.
to take into account the space for the curve. if you use the line on the second bend, you would not have a 24” span, likely 18ish. the star adds the appropriate distance so a 90 degree bend matches the desired 24”span.
BENDING tubing is the easy part. How about STRAIGHTENING tubing? I just bought an under car "broom" washer (Tool Daily undercarriage washer on Amazon) that attaches to a power washer. The unit comes with three extension tubes to help you reach all the way under the vehicle without having to get down on your hands and knees. Two extensions are straight and one has a 90 degree bend. That 90 degree bend is way too much and should be more like 45 degrees. So what would be the best way to "persuade" that 90 degrees to straighten out? I just read that you can't use heat on aluminum because it is different than steel. Steel will gradually soften before it melts while aluminum gets hotter and hotter and then suddenly melts. Is there any way to straighten that 90 degrees even to a 60 degree angle without kinking or breaking it?
@@MakerPipe I just sent for the under car washer so I haven't received it yet. I'm real nervous about trying to straighten aluminum tubing that may have been bent under pressure and heat. I just had a thought, though. Instead of trying to straighten out that 90 degree bend, it might be easier to add another bend below that bend to counteract that 90 degrees. I think bending tubing is easier and better than trying to straighten tubing that's already bent. Thanks for getting me thinking.
Where can we buy a Southwire MCB3/4 bender for the $31.98 price you showed? I looked online and everything, all brands including the Southwire, is well over $40...inflation?
That exact bender is no longer that price. However you can get a good bender for around the same price by piecing it together. Here is the bender head on Amazon --> a.co/d/e8Me6yO Then you will need a handle. This black iron pipe has the same threads as the bender head ---> www.homedepot.com/p/STZ-3-4-in-x-4-ft-Black-Steel-Sch-40-Cut-Pipe-PDB-P34X48/316939768
40+ years in electrical, and I did learn a few things in this video, to be fair , most of my experience is residential and not much conduit to be bent. but i wish I had someone explain it to me like you did
I suppose with practice mistakes are less common. To reduce the risk of error, you work with shorter runs of pipe and make off-cuts of any mistakes? I suppose 10 feet of pipe is the maximum for a reason. :)
Looks like the bender on screen at 0:48 into the video is in the wrong spot at the store. It shows a 3/4" bender behind the tag for the $32 1/2" bender. Actual price for the 3/4 is more like $42 to $48.
Good catch Carl! I purchased mine years ago so we didn’t actually try and ring it up. I am seeing an inexpensive 3/4” one on Amazon for $30 shipped if your interested. Although I can’t vouch for it like the Southwire. It might be worth the extra few bucks for the name brand one or try to find one second hand.
Hi Ganesh, thanks for the question. This bender is made for 3/4" EMT Conduit which is 23.4188mm. You won't have much luck with anything bigger than that.
Yes you can make a chair. We actually used to sell a sling chair kit that was pretty cool. If you look up sling chair on our website you will see it. Thanks for the comment!
More so recently. I remember we started out, a 10’ length of 3/4” EMT was only $3.50! Looking forward to getting back to those prices, but I still think it’s a good value today.
Hi there, the one we used in the video is for 3/4" EMT Conduit but they make them for 1/2" EMT as well. Be sure to look at the bender head to confirm when purchasing.
@@MakerPipe np. If you use your arms too much without enough pressure it “eggs out” making an oval shape in the part of the pipe that is in the shoe of the bender.
