Any experience with this tubing bender?

It is a pipe bender, not a tubing bender. They are different tools for bending different items. A pipe bender will not work for tubing.

Lane

Lane-I don't have any experience with the model shown in the link, but it does say it's a pipe AND tubing bender. How come you think it only bends pipe? ERS

My apologies. I read the header title and not the small print.

Lane

Whoops! I wasn't looking for an apology Lane. I thought maybe you knew something I didn't. ERS

Eric

I just know that there has been a lot of discussion on this NG about tubing benders vs pipe benders and the capabilities of both. Depending on the tube material, diameter and wall thickness and the required radius of the bend, a pipe bender may or may not be able to bend it.

The OP might want to do a Google search on this subject in the archives and will find a lot of good information. Also, the OP didn't say what kind of tubing he was trying to bend. If he did I'm sure that there are some very knowledgeable people here that could more directly answer his question. I have very limited experience in tube bending, in that I've done only copper water "pipe" which is really tubing.

Lane

Actually this one is set up with tube size dies (OD measurements) rather than pipe size dies. And this unit has a roller follower on a bending lever rather than a hydraulic ram bender pushing in the center like the typical pipe bender.

This design should be c> >

Around the farm, there is a lot of stuff that would be quicker to bend than cut and weld. Gates and corral panels especially.

My immediate need is to bend some 1/2" (5/8 OD) L copper for an air compressor after cooler. I know coolers are available commercially. But if we all bought instead of built, we wouldn't be sitting here having this chat.

The Tool America unit claims to handle that size plus 1" square (among others) which I could also use. The price is only a little more than a used Ridgid 358 bender which does only one size. I trust the Ridgid quality but don't have any info on the other.

It has been my experience with the Chinese made stuff that you should consider it to have no warranty. When they are shipped with a repair kit, you have think maybe they know something you don't.

Perhaps this should be another thread but is there an "official" distinction between pipe and tubing. Maybe, wall thickness to diameter? Thick and thin is pretty general.

Pipe is measured according to the ID and the wall thickness. Tubing is OD and wall thickness. On top of that, pipe has a much larger ID than the size would indicate. I suspect this is because when pipe was first being cast they were guaranteeing the pipe would be at least as big as the designation. I've seen some pretty crude, old pipe that had all sorts warts and the like protruding into the ID. ERS

For an exposé on the differences between pipe and tubing read this:

download the Tube and Pipe Bending Manual. It is very technical, but the novice bender can gain some useful information and let you know that simple bends aren't so simple sometimes.

Other suggested reading:

This is a lot of information, and probably more than the OP will ever want to know. I just thought it important to let him know that it can become very involved as it is a science. He should buy that bender with the caveat that it may not work for the tubing he wants to bend. There are a lot of factors such as "d of bend" and "wall factor" that determine if it will bend smoothly or kink.

I'm not an expert, have just done a lot of reading on the subject. Lane

True. But pipe intended for water well use was P & R. It had a 'P'lug pulled through to remove any warts and weld flashing. Also the ends were 'R'eamed after treading. This was all done to insure that valve leathers would not be worn out by the time they reached the working barrel.