Hydraulic Tube Bender Engineering Project

[rbeckett]

Dude!!!!! That is the most inspiring bender I have ever seen built. It is well engineered and unbelievably well machined and built. Hope you get er done soon.

[fabcam]

Originally Posted by rbeckett

Dude!!!!! That is the most inspiring bender I have ever seen built. It is well engineered and unbelievably well machined and built. Hope you get er done soon.

He did finish it.

[Captainfab]

Not another spammer /\ /\ /\ /\

[bullnerd]

Jack is on here all the time!

[TheBandit]

Jack thank you for the compliments. It's really neat to see all the different and innovative home-built benders that have popped up over the years - they easily put mine to shame!

Take a look at some of these. Just a small sampling:

mymechanics mandrel bender:
http://www.offroadfabnet.com/forums/...ead.php?t=1661

jaysinspaceman rotary draw electric chain driven bender
http://www.offroadfabnet.com/forums/...ead.php?t=5851

unknown's winch-driven bender
http://www.offroadfabnet.com/forums/...powered+bender

[gonzalez]

This is the best bender ever :) love it

[bhavik567]

pls frnds provide me all formulas related to tube bending machine and tube bending i need for my engineering project. pls pls pls help me

[TheBandit]

Who wants this machine? Its been so long since I used it, I am thinking about making a log splitter out of it. Or maybe it would make a nice start to a fair ride or a lift gate.

I miss the old days of having so much time on my hands.

[jackalope]

Originally Posted by thebandit

who wants this machine? Its been so long since i used it, i am thinking about making a log splitter out of it. Or maybe it would make a nice start to a fair ride or a lift gate.

I miss the old days of having so much time on my hands.

me!!!!!

[jackalope]

That bender was so damn cool to see take shape. If you are serious, LMK what you are thinking for price, etc.
gehlmann@cridercenter.org

Thanks, Grant

[TheBandit]

I am half serious. I would like to have the space in the garage, but you're talking about a college kid's project that's basically been mothballed for the last few years and it weighs a ton. I can't imagine the cost to take it 1,900 miles!

[Graham08]

Talk about something from the "Grooveyard of Forgotten Favorites". I was hoping there would be photos of it being resurrected to cage (or at least do subframe connectors on) the Nova.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. I would lean toward keeping it, but that has a lot to do with my upbringing. I watched my dad sell off several pieces of equipment over the years because things were tight and he needed the cash, only to regret it later.

Plus it's a pretty damned impressive accomplishment. I think it would kill you to sell it and find out that it's not in a good home.

[350 Vortec]

You simply cant sell it!!!i'm sure some day you'll get inspired to finish it and be delighted when you bend some tube for the first time!!!

[TheBandit]

It is pretty much finished and I got to build several things with it, including my bumper and exocage and several bumpers for friends. The only thing I would like to do to it is put a Tube Bandit with autostop on there because the PLC control I setup before didn't have as good of resolution.

I may very well hold on to it for the some day that I need to build a cage for the Nova or build a go-kart for my son. For some reason this thread popped in my head and I probably shouldn't have brought it back from the graveyard posting my random thoughts. It just seems to be collecting dust lately while I tend to other things, but now that I have gone back and reread some of the old posts I am feeling sentimental about it again. I feel like there was a time when I had the time to be creative and build things, but that time has been mostly taken up now with work and family.

It is funny to read things I wrote some 8 years ago now. For example that "I'm blushing" about the comments and congrats I received. I was very humbled and appreciative of the kind feedback and a little less arrogant that I am now. This bender build was a huge springboard for my career and set the foundation for a lot of the things I do every day now.

There were two other things that caught my eye while re-reading the thread. One was the Haas Automation opportunity that came up while I was demoing the bender at a project fair. I actually went in and interviewed with them, with much success, and basically had a job lined up just prior to finishing school. However when I called and explained that I couldn't start right away due to the chemo treatment, they basically turned me down saying they needed someone right away. I only asked for a month IIRC, but they wouldn't wait. Looking back, that was their loss. About a year later they called me and asked if I'd consider coming back in - no thanks.

Another thing that broke my heart was the trip to South Korea. The school offered to pay to send me out there AND fly out the bender to demo my project abroad, representing Cal Poly engineering. It was a huge opportunity for me to travel abroad for the first time and experience a part of the world I may never visit. However not long after I started making arrangements for the trip, I was diagnosed with cancer. I remember the huge disappointment I felt when I spoke to my oncologist about it and he recommended against me flying anywhere because I was going to start chemo right away. We talked about whether or not to postpone the chemo to accommodate the trip, but of course the most important thing was my health so ultimately I had to pass on the opportunity.

So apparently there is a lot of sentimental value to this thing. It represents a critical juncture in my life and is also just really neat to show people, even now. I guess for that reason it would be very hard for me to let go of it. But I do know if someone like Grant took it on, it would give me great pleasure to see it getting used again and in the hands of someone who appreciates it beyond it's face value.

[Graham08]

Originally Posted by TheBandit

I feel like there was a time when I had the time to be creative and build things, but that time has been mostly taken up now with work and family.

I am working through the same issues. Let me know if you figure something out!

[bullnerd]

Keep it, I'll give you a bend tech file for a cool kids kart.

http://s614.photobucket.com/user/ham...e2a0f.png.html

[jackalope]

There's no question this bender needs to stay right where it is! I will be most honored in helping you make room in your shop if you have the overwhelming urge to part with it though! ;-)

This build was top notch from the start. Very inspiring and a great thread from start to finish. Yeah, you had some serious life altering events during that time but you are better for it and hopefully each time you knock the dust off of her you will remember the good.

You will kick yourself if you part with it. It is ONE BAD MUTHA though.

Grant

[rdn2blazer]

This...

Originally Posted by Graham08

Talk about something from the "Grooveyard of Forgotten Favorites". I was hoping there would be photos of it being resurrected to cage (or at least do subframe connectors on) the Nova.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. I would lean toward keeping it, but that has a lot to do with my upbringing. I watched my dad sell off several pieces of equipment over the years because things were tight and he needed the cash, only to regret it later.

Plus it's a pretty damned impressive accomplishment. I think it would kill you to sell it and find out that it's not in a good home.

And this...

Originally Posted by jackalope

There's no question this bender needs to stay right where it is! I will be most honored in helping you make room in your shop if you have the overwhelming urge to part with it though! ;-)

This build was top notch from the start. Very inspiring and a great thread from start to finish. Yeah, you had some serious life altering events during that time but you are better for it and hopefully each time you knock the dust off of her you will remember the good.

You will kick yourself if you part with it. It is ONE BAD MUTHA though.

Grant

WAAAAAY to cool a custom built item to ever let go. But I understand completely too. I'm in or getting real close to have to start selling something to keep a float. My truck projects will go first if necessary. My shop and equipment I hope to hand down to my son one day. Including all the cool things I've built over the years. Then he can tell his friends "My dad built that". I hope things like that will make him proud of me when I'm gone. I truly hope you keep it. It is a bad ass bender!

[sbjamdade]

i need cad or inventor drawings of the tube bender components

[bullnerd]

Originally Posted by sbjamdade

i need cad or inventor drawings of the tube bender components

Muhahahaha!!!