General Fabrication

Very little stickout I'd say about 3/16-1/8. I was walking the cup a little so I didn't want to hit the edges of the metal mid-walk

 

Haven't even started drilling, and I'm already regretting this decision

 

at least you have a mag drill, that will make it easy

 

I have two. I'm hoping I can bait a coworker into helping me with an offer of beer. I wouldn't of even attempted this with a hand drill. Now if I just had a tool to help me with the hole threading.

 

just thread holes as you need them lol. that what i did. as the threading takes forever also.

 

Try putting a centering bit in you're mag drill, and a hand tap to thread and use the drill for down pressure only. There is usually a spot on the tap for the centering bit to engage, and spin the tap by hand. That's how I would do it on a milling machine.

 

Bump. Let's talk tube benders. I've had the jd2-m32 before. I liked it a lot but it wasn't a perfect bender. Like seeing the degree wheel while bending is down right impossible lol.

I'm in the market for another one now and a company called Roque Fab has came out with a very affordable bender that bends on a vertical axis rather than horizontal.

I'm not an engineer so I can't really see any cons to going with the Rogue Fab one but then again I don't know if I should go with the old school tried and true Jd2 again.

Any of y'all have any input or recommendations? I gotta exo the taco and got time to do some side fabrication again so trying to get a good one. Pic for attention pretty much

 

I've had the Rogue Fab bender for about 3 years now and think it's a decent setup for home garage fab/light production. This is the first and only bender I've owned (or used) so I don't really have anything else to compare to though. My reasoning for getting it over the JD2 was that it saves space and the price point.
I wouldn't bother with the 'standard' 1.75" x 4.5 CLR die they offer as from what I've seen 4.5" is too tight for 1.75" tubing and crushes it pretty bad. Go with the 6" CLR for anything bigger than 1.5" tube.

Pros:
•Super accurate once you figure out the springback on the tube. You will be able to make 100 parts exactly the same because the degree wheel is right there in front of you and you can go really slow on the air/hydro ram when you get close to the end of your bend.
•Cost
•Compact. Mine sits on a Husky rolling toolbox and I wheel it out of the corner when needed. Vertical bends means you don't need a ton of space around the bender unless you're doing really long multi plane bends.
•weld it yourself frame goes together super easy
•90° bends in one shot without moving pins.

Cons:
•Long distance from the clamp block to the start of the bend. 5.25" on 4.5" CLR dies and 6.5" on 6" CLR dies. If you're doing a bunch of bends where you need a small return at the end of the tube (like sliders) you waste quite a bit when you cut the excess off.
• Because of the design of the bender you can't see where the bend is starting (or ending) on the die when loaded into the machine. With other benders it's my understanding you mark the tube where your bend starts and where it ends. With this machine you figure out where your bend starts then mark your line 5.25" or 6.5" ahead of the start of the bend and place the clamp that location. To me this gets a bit confusing at times, but that might just be me.
•It's slow at about 60 seconds for a 90° bend. Unless your going with an electric hydraulic pump setup this is about normal though I guess. This is really only a bitch if you're doing a bunch of bends one after another in a production run but again for the money spent it's not really that bad.
•the pressure die likes to flip over when loading your tube. If you don't notice it flip over and start bending then that peice of tube is ruined... they offer a roller pressure die now though and I'd recommend getting that.

 

Get the JD2 model 3 and mounted vertically. Get yourself a nice magnetic angle finder to stick on the tube and you don't even need that degree wheel anymore. I'm converting my model 3 to vertical.

 

I mounted my Air/Hydro JD2 Model 3 to an engine stand, bends horizontal and vertical now

 

Ditto...great minds.

 

That's fucking genius

 

whats going on with that top degree tool?

 

It came with the old pro tools one shot bender I had before the JD2. It's way more accurate than the degree wheel on the JD2. It locks in place for easy bend duplication too.

 

Makin a cargo rack for my buddies canback softop today

 

Can't wait for the completed project pics.

You should post this in the "show me your soft topper" thread.

 

This ever get finished?

 

Yea he kind of finished it I just did the tube work for him

 

Any experienced fabricators looking for a job? We are hiring at the company I’m with in Phoenix.