I decided I need (well want anyway) a tube bender. Something better than my Harbor Fright Pipe Kinker. In 20ish (maybe more) years of ownership the Harbor Fright Pipe Kinker has worked for two jobs, and it still slightly kinked one of them.
I had to make a slight offset in some conduit for a fiberoptic line at a school. I didn't have a conduit bender that size, so I tried the pipe kinker. There is a very slight kink, but it is a very slight bend. Its still in service. I took it with me to Mexico when I was working on the video system at El Toro Promotora Agricola, but as rare as it happens I'd think I'd remember if it was useful for anything there. More recently I used it with a chain for straightening a trailer frame and setting the toe on a trailer axle. It actually worked great for that.
Anyway, I thought it might be fun to make my own tube bender. I looked at a lot of different designs, and I like the look of one of the plans sets from Got Trikes. Says plans sent within 24hrs. Nope.
AI search says it looks like they are no longer in business since their website hasn't been updated since 2015, but a static site to sell a hand full of products with PayPal links doesn't need to be updated. Before doing anything else I decided to search some builder and fabricator forums. Seems like being slow to send the plans is normal with postings about it going back to 2016 and some threads having posts as recent as
2024. Of course there were those who said, "WELL! I GOT MINE RIGHT AWAY!" There were also those that reported from days to weeks delay and a few threads started by those who had already waited days to weeks. I also noticed atleast a handful of responses that said "I got nothing until I filed a dispute with PayPal and then they sent my plans right away." I filed a dispute with PayPal, and before I had rated PayPal on how they handled the dispute they had already put the money back in my account.
I'm not saying they are not legit. I am not saying they are out of business. I am saying that it seems odd PayPal didn't even give them a chance to respond. If you know the owner, and they are not out of business you might suggest they spend some time setting up auto delivery for their digital product. I really liked the design. That's why I bought the plans. I am sure some people would still buy them if they knew they would get them. I could probably reverse engineer it from their two videos on YouTube, but plans would have been easier and faster, and the price was more than fair.
Yes, I know I can buy a knockoff of other designs on Amazon that uses available premium manufacturer's dies. I actually liked the look of the Got Trikes design better, and I was getting a little excited about building it myself. Oh, well. If you think of buying their plans I suggest you contact them first to see if they respond.