Posted: 4/30/2014 10:25:31 AM EDT
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I need a tool that will bend steel rod (on the order of 3/16 to 5/16 and smaller) into intricate shapes. I need some tight radius ability, on the order of 1/4 inch.
What tool is the best bang for the buck? I have been looking at these: http://www.harborfreight.com/compact-metal-bender-99826.html http://www.amazon.com/Manual-Mounting-Universal-Bending-Bender/dp/B00HG0L5DI/ref=pd_sim_sbs_indust_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0AAEDB3DB080FKPBH90P Not required but it would be cool if changing dies would allow me to bend small flat stock. |
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Do Want...  |
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OK then. How about a manual bender that I might be able to afford? |
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Quoted:
Do you need to bend more than 90 deg? Do you have multiple bends close together? How close? Do you have pictures or drawings of your part? What kind of steel? Are the material properties important after bending? I need two 90's in a dog leg. Like a "Z", only the top to bottom connector is perpendicular to the two legs and only about a half inch long. ETA: The legs are asymmetrical, one about 5 inches long and the other about two inches long. No pictures or drawings. The steel is the "hoop" wire frames from cardboard and plastic political signs (the wife and I used to be really active and there were always tons of them left over). As for material properties after bending, no, I don't care about stress risers or work hardening, and etc. I just need to turn out a couple about three or four dozen of these. I am transplanting aspen trees from my backyard. I'm digging them up and putting them in buckets. I am using the cheap green plastic plant supports from Home Depot. The wind pushes the trees over and pulls the support rods through the loose bedding dirt. So I wire one "leg" of the "Z" to the rod and the other leg hooks onto the rim of the planter bucket and stabilizes it. |
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Quoted:
I need two 90's in a dog leg. Like a "Z", only the top to bottom connector is perpendicular to the two legs and only about a half inch long. No pictures or drawings. The steel is the "hoop" wire frames from cardboard and plastic political signs (the wife and I used to be really active and there were always tons of them left over). As for material properties after bending, no, I don't care about stress risers or work hardening, and etc. I just need to turn out a couple about three or four dozen of these. I am transplanting aspen trees from my backyard. I'm digging them up and putting them in buckets. I am using the cheap green plastic plant supports from Home Depot. The wind pushes the trees over and pulls the support rods through the loose bedding dirt. So I wire one "leg" of the "Z" to the rod and the other leg hooks onto the rim of the planter bucket and stabilizes it. Quoted:
Quoted:
Do you need to bend more than 90 deg? Do you have multiple bends close together? How close? Do you have pictures or drawings of your part? What kind of steel? Are the material properties important after bending? I need two 90's in a dog leg. Like a "Z", only the top to bottom connector is perpendicular to the two legs and only about a half inch long. No pictures or drawings. The steel is the "hoop" wire frames from cardboard and plastic political signs (the wife and I used to be really active and there were always tons of them left over). As for material properties after bending, no, I don't care about stress risers or work hardening, and etc. I just need to turn out a couple about three or four dozen of these. I am transplanting aspen trees from my backyard. I'm digging them up and putting them in buckets. I am using the cheap green plastic plant supports from Home Depot. The wind pushes the trees over and pulls the support rods through the loose bedding dirt. So I wire one "leg" of the "Z" to the rod and the other leg hooks onto the rim of the planter bucket and stabilizes it. Vise + hammer |
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Quoted:
Vise + hammer Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Do you need to bend more than 90 deg? Do you have multiple bends close together? How close? Do you have pictures or drawings of your part? What kind of steel? Are the material properties important after bending? I need two 90's in a dog leg. Like a "Z", only the top to bottom connector is perpendicular to the two legs and only about a half inch long. No pictures or drawings. The steel is the "hoop" wire frames from cardboard and plastic political signs (the wife and I used to be really active and there were always tons of them left over). As for material properties after bending, no, I don't care about stress risers or work hardening, and etc. I just need to turn out a couple about three or four dozen of these. I am transplanting aspen trees from my backyard. I'm digging them up and putting them in buckets. I am using the cheap green plastic plant supports from Home Depot. The wind pushes the trees over and pulls the support rods through the loose bedding dirt. So I wire one "leg" of the "Z" to the rod and the other leg hooks onto the rim of the planter bucket and stabilizes it. Vise + hammer I turned out about 20 this way. Very difficult to get that half inch crossbar. Every now and then I have a need for something similar, so it's a good excuse to buy a tool that will do a nice repeatable job. |
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Quoted:
I need a tool that will bend steel rod (on the order of 3/16 to 5/16 and smaller) into intricate shapes. I need some tight radius ability, on the order of 1/4 inch. What tool is the best bang for the buck? I have been looking at these: http://www.harborfreight.com/compact-metal-bender-99826.html http://www.amazon.com/Manual-Mounting-Universal-Bending-Bender/dp/B00HG0L5DI/ref=pd_sim_sbs_indust_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0AAEDB3DB080FKPBH90P Not required but it would be cool if changing dies would allow me to bend small flat stock. AR500 FTW! |