JD2 Model 32 Bender + Harbor Freight Ram

[Rafael]

I'm building this with my I-MIG 200 and my PowerPlasma 50

Ok as many of you know I recently bought a JD2 tubing bender. I bought the manual bender because it was way cheaper but I had the intention on converting it down the road to air over hydraulic. Well the road was really damn short because I decided to do it right away lol. I know Swag Off Road sells a mount for the Harbor Freight ram but it has a major flaw in the design do to it's pivot point. The mount creates side load on the ram and will blow out the seal and from what I read can make retracting the mount pretty hard. Now due to the size of the HF ram creating a center pivot point takes quite a bit more effort but it should be done if you want to use this type of ram on your tubing bender.

Here is what I'm working on and the progress so far. My mount will use the factory mounts on the ram rather than clamping down on the tube like the Swag mount does.

















I Should have this finished up tomorrow night. I'll post more pics then.

For those that don't mind listening to me ramble on and on you can check out my youtube videos of this build. Hopefully that will answer any question you have.

[zoama]

Great video...can't wait to see the results.

I have an idea for a simple mount that would solve the problem. It's a new cylinder clamp with a pin on each side and two plates that would bolt to the last three holes on your bender with the cylinder mount between.
The plates could be stepped if need be.

[Rafael]

Yeah the center mount like that would work. Using the last hole in the arm will take some work because this ram is so large and the factory bolts are in the way. Maybe building an extension mount like I did on the other arm would solve that. It just needs to be really strong. I'm not sure how much I like the mounts that clamp to the tube. Maybe it's just me but I worry about unnecessary stress on the tubing given that there are critical moving parts inside. But it should work out great.

[Rambozo]

Great video...can't wait to see the results.

I have an idea for a simple mount that would solve the problem. It's a new cylinder clamp with a pin on each side and two plates that would bolt to the last three holes on your bender with the cylinder mount between.
The plates could be stepped if need be.

That looks like the hot tip. Compact, but center loaded.

[ShaneJackson]

cool project. How well does the bender work? does it leave any kinks? I read somewhere where you had to fill the pipe with sand to avoid kinks on some HF pipe benders. Seemed like that would be a real pain.

[Rafael]

This is not a harbor freight pipe bender. This is a JD Squared bender that I'm using a HF ram to power. These are high quality benders capable of producing smooth bends on 1/4" wall tubing. They work very well. I haven't used mine yet. I will sometime next week after I finish this and order some tubing.

[ShaneJackson]

Sorry I kind of confused myself. I read what kind it was and then read about the ram and watched the video all the while drinking apple pie shine.... need I say more.

[agent4573]

I've got a bunch of 1.5" DOM 0.090" wall tube bent on this bender and it does a great job. There are small indents where it has to deform the tube to get it to bend (its not a mandrel bender), but its very small and the tube comes out great looking. If your mounts/ram setup work great, you may have to make a second one for me.

[Rafael]

If your mounts/ram setup work great, you may have to make a second one for me.

Depending on how this goes I might just do that if you really want one. I was thinking about maybe making a few more. It's such a simple design though I'm not sure how much people would pay for it. I have the extra plate. I'm sure there will be a few changes on a 2nd build though.

Can't wait to see how it handles .250 wall. Not sure I'll be buying that size of tubing right away. It's expensive and I don't really have a use for it at the moment. However I will be buying some .120 wall to put a cage in my truck.