can i use this tubing bender to make a roll cage ?

Tool & Equipment Index Metal Fabrication Benders, Lathes, & Tubing Notchers Item# 14420






Northern Industrial Tools Powerful 12-Ton Hydraulic Pipe Bender

In Stock
Ship Wt. 90.0 lbs
Item# 14420
Discount Price... $89.99
Sale Price... $74.99
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Additional Specifications
Bends virtually all types of pipe except conduit!
6 cast iron shoes for 1/2in.-2in. diameter pipe
Top rollers adjust for degree of bend
24in.L x 21 1/2in.H x 6 1/4in.D
Makes 90 degree bends
1 year limited warranty

 

I dunno what the top one is but for the bottom one, not no but hell no.. unless you plan on making your cage from black iron pipe. all it will do is kink and ruin a whole lot of steel. he best/cheapest bender you can get for bending erw and dom is the JD squared model 3... the bender is like $350 and each die is another $250 or so...



BUBBA

 

Sounds to me like, if you aren't going to bend a lot of cages, paying someone to make the pieces is cheaper. Then save money on the installation and welding via DIY.

 

Actually Bubba , I have seen 2 different cages made with this exact unit, he kinked the crap out of about 20 feet of hydraulic pipe before he got it right and learned to do it but he built 2 very good looking top notch roll cages for 2 Jeeps, he used 2"od x 3/16" wall hydraulic pipe, trust me it was all that little bender would do to hold up and this is after we modified the unit for him to take the stress, I don't think it would hold up to making a 3rd cage out of this material but it is very surprising what you can do with one of these units if you get some practice and take your time. If all you are doing is building 1 cage you might want to look into someone else bending the tubing for you and then weld it yourself.

 

it isn't the practice that did it it is the wall thickness.. most cages (including nextel cup cars) use .095 wall DOM, the thickest I use is .125" and only in certain spots (usually things that get rock rash). anyhting heavier than that is just weight.. and lots of it.. wall thickness has a lot to do with ow well pipe bends.. I am using a real tube bender and I am still having trouble cuz I am using .087 wall on a 6.5" radius, .095 bends perfect and .125 wall make beautiful bends. even 2' .125 DOM will kink on the northern "pipe" bender at about 20 degrees.. trust me on this.. after $50 of tube and the price of the $200 16 ton northern pipe bender it was an expensive lesson. If anybody is interested I'll sell ya the 16 ton northern bender for $100.. yup half price.. haha.. anyhow if ya can make it work , great! It sure kicked my butt.... I felt pretty stoopid after the fact especially when I walked into the race shop to get somebends made and told them about my mistake.. thay laughed themselves silly! I guess that was not the first time they had that happen.. and Mcruff is right.. cheaper to get someone else to do it.... The shop I went to got $3 a bend...


BUBBA

 

If you were a tad closer you could come use my bender but I don't think you wanna drive all the way to tennessee... haha...


BUBBA