I gotta admit I'm a little beside myself with the excitement over this bender. My buddy builds a lot of hard bumpers/sliders/tire carriers/ etc... for Land Rovers and just got his bender in. He got the JD Squared Model 32 with the electric over hydraulic set up and 4 die sets (2" sq, 2" round, 1.75" round, and 1.5" round). We spent most of our time fabbing up this "bender station" last night from an old welding table. The cool thing is that everything is self-contained on the cart and it seems to work out perfect. The spacer we made for the frame is only held on with (4) 1/2" fillet welds so if a particular job conflicts with the table then we can re-situate it then, but we were able to do some tight bends back to back without any issues. My 1.75" DOM shows up tomorrow so the XJ is getting a bumper this weekend!

For those of you considering a bender, spring for the electric, rather than air, to support your hydraulics. It doesn't slow down when the load is applied



This was a scrap of 2" 0.188" DOM.... like butter!

 

new benders are awesome, my buddy does alot of fab work (focused right now on refurbing golf carts and building cages, racks, bumpers, etc for them) and the day after he got his bender finished there wasnt a straight tube left in the shop

 

Yep. That how the addiction starts.

 

Can I ask what it cost? And how much are more dies? How many tons?

I have been looking at benders for while.

 

That's just about how it went too, I was rummaging through the material rack looking for anything.

ya, a foresee A LOT of tubing on my Jeep.

It's the JD Squared Model 32 with Hydraulic. Here is the MFG site. I think he has a little over 3k in it with the 4 die sets, frame, and electric pump http://www.jd2.com/p-38-model-32-bender-hydraulic.aspx

 

Thanks for the info. I want both an interior and exo cage, so I will need something nice. Although that's a bit more than I would ever be able to afford.

 

That is a super nice setup... I went Low buck and bought some ones used set up (they upgraded to a similar setup like yours.. but did a verticcal bender). I paid 125 for this.. so deals are out there.. just have to be patient.



I have since sold my old Protools 105HD with 1 die... I sold that for 650.


I have also done some creative trading and bartering and have acquired a 1.5,1.75, and a 2" die for my bender. Just be on the look out for the deals.

 

Ya, but consider the extra stuff. Hell you could get that bender and a single die set for about a grand but its mechanical so you'd have to mount it. He does a lot of tube carriers and bumpers so it should soon pay for its self. Not to mention the square die for some industrial jobs he has a hand in.

Ya and see that's awesome, what a steal. He ended up damaging the frame on his old pro-tools bender with some heavy wall projects. This is more than you need but with quantity, it will really make the difference. I've always got my eye out for a creative trade.


Hopefully my DOM will get cut today so we'll have something to do on Sunday. I can't wait to see what we come up with. We're shooting for a "behind the cross member winch mount" type all tubular.

 

Didn't get very far on the XJ bumper but did get a chance to use the bender. Here is one of the tire carriers he makes for a Discovery & RRC. I think it would look good on a XJ.....that might just happen. Typically he provides the entire bumper assembly and carrier but this guy intendeds to weld the stud to his existing hard bumper. there is a bracket not shown that bolts to the rear door. Connecting that to the door is a "dog bone" link that holds the connection. So when the Disco owner opens his rear door, the carrier opens and closes with it. The post is for a high lift clamp. Construction is 1.75" x 11GA EWS

 

Nice!

 

very cool.... i've aways side skirted the bender by making 22.5 degree cuts in the tube then bending the tube to a 45 degree angle and rewelding. terrible unsafe and would not use for a roll cage, but effective for bumpers which are a one time hit. love that bender bro.

 

^ hey if its not structural it works! I can't wait to get on my bumper. I got the winch plate sorted Sunday but need to get those bolts together for the steering box.

 

Come bend up a frame for my sheet metal dash....please....

 

haha, yea let me toss it in the back of the XJ real quick and head on over.