Anything welding

I’ll still have to respectfully disagree with everyone. Rather than live by the “buy once cry once” philosophy I adhere to the “buy what is appropriate for your usage.”

Like my $800 harbor freight Vulcan welder. Is it as good as a miller? No. Will it do what I need? Plenty, and then some.

Besides, I still fail to see what justifies the price difference between the JD bender and the JMR bender. They look like the same design, or at least close enough. I’m not trying to be argumentative, but just want to defend the stance of buying mid level, budget friendly equipment for a hobbyist.


edit: Thought this was relevant. A guy on here built (still building) this truggy and every bend was with this cheapo $350 bender. Buy what suits your needs.


https://www.affordablebender.com/co...roducts/affordable-bender-134-die-on-7-radius

 

Yeah my bender was a JD Squared. They are the original. Bent many cages and never had a problem. (however, keep your eye on the pin placement. I bent the upper frame because I was running my mouth instead of the machine). I had to drive to Ocala and get a new one. They made it on the spot.
Zim

 

Yep, it will be fine.
Zim

 

You're cheating!!! Lol Nice setup.
Zim

 

LOL...I did mine in steel first as a prototype. Next one, if I live that long, will be aluminum...lmao. I'm getting older by the seconds.
Zim

 

Hey I'm with ya on this one. Just because I had one don't mean I would buy another. I have a harbor fright band saw and rivet gun (air) and they performed awesome for this last build. Drill bits too. It's all about saving money where you can. (disclaimer; don't look in my tool box for longer than 10 seconds...no cheap shit there..lmao)
Zim

 

It’s all good. I’m not trying to convince you. I’m putting it out there so others looking at benders can read it. Same reason I comment opposing the guys telling everyone all the need is a 110 welder but they’ve never touched a 240v welder. I think now you understand how much better and stronger your work would of been previously if you had started with the 240v welder

 

Oh yeah I completely agree there. I just wish that JD offered the model 3 still because it'd be a moot point, since the JMR and the model 3 cost the same. But since they discontinued that and only offer the model 32 now, I don't want to spend the extra money on it.



For anyone curious, the JMR







JD squared model 32

 

looks like the only difference is the JMR comes with an anal bead attachment.

 

That's the main reason I want it

 

Thanks! Ideally I’d have my welders and a small table in there as well, but this garage is attached to the house, and the wife says no lol

 

That sucks. I didn’t realize they moved away from the model 3. I wish my dies transferred over to model 32 that thing is a beast. I’m sure you’ll be plenty happy with the rogue. It’ll open up the door to a whole new type of fab work.

 

25 years ago, how many quality benders were available to consumers? Back then there was the JD2 and there was Asian crap.

It's great that the JD2's are being used as the yard stick to compare others.

In the present, we have many quality units that are comparable to the JD2's. If they are not close to the quality, it won't take long for word to get out that these different units are to be shunned.

Asian quality is leaps and bounds what it was 25 years ago and the internet is making sure that it remains that way.

A little competition helps everyone. This works for the Asian welders as well.

I know 25 years ago, I could have never thought I would say "the build quality of this Vulcan welder is every bit as good as my Miller". Now I see it all the time.

 

In a lot of cases I would agree, it would depend on the tool I’m buying. If I’m buying safety equipment or parts for my Jeep... then get the best. But the tube bender is a simple tool. One thing I didn’t look at with the jmr bender is the availability of the dies. If the dies are vast and reasonably priced then I’d still go with the jmr since the design is the same and they appear to be the same. Some of my tools are snap in while others are different brands. In many cases you’re buying a name while in others it’s just a piece of steel that perform the same task. My snap on tools were because I believe they are actually better and I justified it while bending wrenches for work. If I wasn’t doing it professionally then off brands would have done my job just fine.

 

I am excited to use it. I've never done any tube work but with practice, youtube and bendtech I'll figure it out. I am going to heed your advice on the die. For an extra $50 I can get a 240 degree die. Emailed them some final questions and will pull the trigger today.

 

I haven’t done much bending with that style of bender, but I’ve bent miles of emt and rigid conduit with a triple nickel, Chicago, and hand benders. A cheap and handy tool to get along with a bender is a magnetic protractor, and maybe a no dog to help with offsets.

 

One of my friends has this, and it's a fine enough welder. I've tried it before. He's in the same boat and just welds a couple times a year. It's gas capable if you ever decide to make the jump.

https://www.eastwood.com/mig-welder-110vac-135a-output.html

 

I run a jd2 model 3 also

Has put up with years of abuse from the previous owner and years to come with me. Buy once cry once

just my 2 cents. Sometimes hobbying can quickly turn into side jobs where you’ll wish you spent the extra money up front. Not trying to convince anyone of anything, just my thought process and the way I’ve seen hobby’s going in the past

 

I can see that side of things when hobbies like metal work turn into side jobs. I did a fair bit of work for friends in the past that has made a bit of money. These days, I barely have time for my own projects so other people’s work (money or not) isn’t gonna happen.

 

Current welding project is half doors. Pretty much done with one door already. At least with the fabricating. Only have 4 hours into it.