making a roller bender

with getting things together, to fab up a new hull, i have been looking at a few different styles of tubing benders, every since i looked at Dan's Build, where he had all bends on his bottom channel looking so uniform and pre-bent. it just looked a lot cleaner of a build, than notching the bottom channel to make the curve coming up the bow.

so this has been something that has been in the back of my mind, and have been watching craigslist, to see if anything would be posted in my price range,
i never gave much thought about building my own.
but the other day, i came across a few Utube videos, about building homemade tubing benders.
man, how simple of designs are out there. and looking through the the material needed, all i was needing was a couple of pillow blocks for the shafts. and a couple odds and ends.
i still need to finish up the upright supports for the middle shaft, but it is starting to take shape. when my pillow blocks get here, then i can get the height and spacing for the center shaft dialed in.
then later turn out some dies on the lathe for the tubing. but all in due time.
and if nothing else it is giving me time to play on my new welder.

hope that most of you that are on the east coast are getting through this cold spell. 30 miles up the road it was a -45 below today, but here by the ocean we had just a plain flat 0.
it makes it kind of nice to stay inside and sit by the fire, but nothing gets done then.
so the finished picture is on the design that i am coping, and the rest are where i am at in putting it together.

Nice.
Some shop you have.
'bout half the time I'm out side working...

It looks like it'll be a very sturdy set-up when it's complete....I agree Dan's build was a great one the boat turned out fantastic..I'm sure yours will be right up there in the craftsmanship also...;thumb;

the shop isn't much, picked up a 40 ft connex, and put door halfway down ne of the sides. then back in the winter of 2012 we got so much snow, before i knew it. it was even with the top of the connex. had to cut out stairs to get to the door, after every snow and wind storm.
i mentioned to my better half, that a little awning or porch would be nice to have over the door, it ended up being enclosed lean-to, 12 ' wide and 30' long by the time i was done.
it wouldn't have been so bad, but it encroached just a little more of the lawn that what was originally allowed.
put pallets down for the floor, and covered them with plywood,
only had to purchase 4 sheets of plywood,
still need to plug up some of the holes, last winter with the winds, i ended up with some good sized drifts inside. but it is better than laying on ice and changing out parts on the truck and car.

I hope the changes that i am planning with the old hull, and new build that i will try to do next spring & summer, will look good.
pretty well set on cutting the old hull and adding between 1' to 2' to the width. that small of a hull was okay on calm days, but with the water that came over the back, when my wife was driving it. i just don't want to think about the what-ifs.
and having a metal bender, should help out.

well this was not to bad of an project, but i do have between 10 and 15 hours into it, waiting on 1 set of pillow blocks and they showed up today after the post office was closed. and attach the bracket to hold the top of the jack in place.
this is going to weight right close to a 100 lbs. from the picture, it didn't look that heavy.
i ended up putting a few more holes on the side brackets. it should give me almost 4 inches for height. i am glad i had some 8" material to use. the space between the pillow blocks that are mounted on the channel, is only 3-1/2" wide. i cut out a couple of 3/4" wide spacers and put on shaft. this will give me a 2" inside width, which will allow me to bend the 2" channel and not have it widen out on me. only 4 more spacers to cut out.
for a hinge, i had on hand a heavy duty commercial door hinge, we will see if it will hold up.
also, i didn't have enough 8" I beam or channel, to make the bottom plate. so i used a piece of 6" channel and added 2" to the center of it.

i figured out the spacing between the bottom and top plate, is kind of determined by how tall the jack is that is being used. and how you attach it to the upper and lower plates.
i wanted the top of the jack to be secure, but still be able to spin the top out if i needed a steeper angle. still need to finish the upper hinge bracket , and see if my idea will work.

the part that took the most thought was laying out the side holes so they might be the same on both sides,
i still might need to visit with my friend with a mill, and just make 3 slots on each side, that would make it a lot simpler i am thinking. then all i would need to do is loosen up the 2 sides, lift it up. slide the material onto the bender, and let the center shaft slide down to where it rest on the material. tighten it up and should be good to go.
the only thing that i think would be nice is to have some markings on it. so i would know what the radius would be at that angle , i will just have to learn by trial and error.
the first project will be, like on the videos that i watched, is to make about a 20" radius wheel. and mount that to the center shaft. for a hand wheel.
as for painting it. at the moment i will just put a coat of OSPHO, on it. to keep the rust away. and when it warms up a little put a coat of paint on.

on a side note, for the last month i had been sending texts to my friend with the lathe and mill, and i hadn't been getting any response. finally the other night i took a minute to look at the number, and it was his land line. at least now i know why he hadn't been answering. go figure, this modern tech still is getting the best of me. every now and then.

i was at harbor freight the other day and picked up a bender just in case i ever need it. nothing like yours and no where as heavy duty as yours. you shouldn't have any problem bending anything you can get in it. very nice job.

not a bad bender, many times it is simpler to purchase one already made,
last year a friend showed me about the cheapest one ever. he welded 2 channels to a plate 8" on center. cut a hole about 1 foot up, to run the material through. then used a jack to bend 8" at a time.
he knows his math. and had calculated how much he needed to lift each segment to get the arch for his gunnel supports on his skiff. and it worked for him. he even made a very detailed cad drawing of his build
I think I need to borrow his expertise, on the cad stuff, and put together the plans for my next build. sometimes a set of detailed plans could save a lot of head scratching, even if it is a simple boat hull.
did a few more things on the bender, was trying to figure out how to attach a wheel to the center shaft. then i seen what another did. so i tig welded a bolt to the end of the shaft, and will used the nut for the center of wheel. with 3 spokes running to it.
finally broke out the tig part on my welder. for running on 110 volts it is sweet, and has good penetration. i hadn't tig welded for almost 35 years. it is almost like riding a bike. yep i stuck the tungsten more than just a few times, and had to regrind it. but as for the Miller 215, I need to buy the Air Liquide salesman a steak dinner. for talking me into upgrading it, where i was thinking of purchasing just the Miller 211. for the extra 150, it was well worth it.
I tig welded the blocks holding the jack pivot and welded a 1/8" plug on top of the pivot block. so the jack top fits nice and snug. and it pivots nicely though out the whole range. just need to change out the bolts for some grade 8.
it was just fun to use another weld process, and as for worrying about if the jack will lift it up high enough.
It looks like I need to attache a smart level to it. so i will have a point of reference, when i make multiple parts.
so tomorrow with luck and the rest of the pillow blocks, hopefully i can make the hand wheel on the first attempt. :roll:

went to the post office, to get the package with the pillow blocks, thinking i would just have a package slip, and have to go to the front counter for pickup. well the package was small enough, it had been sitting in the box all weekend.
took everything over to my friends last night and it works, we rolled a 24" hoop out of 1/2" square tube. after tack welding the ends together, put it back on the roller, went around a couple of times, and the diameter is within 1/16" of an inch. not bad for the first time rolling a hoop.
but with his help, there will be a few upgrades, that will be happening.
but now i am getting exited about being able to bend the gunnels, and if i get the dies built, i will use it to bend the hoops for a new cage,
and i have a few other friends that looking at things they can build with using this bender. so it is a win-win

Great news...;thumb;..Another item to add to your ever-growing inventory...As well as that's built it should last for years...

a few updates. the fit and finish is always so much fun.
after making the hoop for the hand wheel. that was the simple part. i thought I would be fancy, used 1/4" solid square stock for the spokes, and gave the spokes a slight angle, ( how hard could that be) on the utube videos, what it takes them less than a couple of minutes.
so i put it together, on the first attempt, it was almost 4 inches out of round on the linear plane. you would get dizzy just looking at it.
so i ended up cutting the bolt off the shaft, and removed the hub of the hand wheel, and started again.
the second time it was only 2" out.
ended up putting a straight edge to see a visual of which spokes i need to push out or pull back in. glad this time i only tacked the spokes onto the hub, and now it is with in 1/8" inch on the linear plane.
my friend made a bullet style hinge,on his lathe. with real tight tolerances. what a difference that makes. there is no sway, or slop.
then i ended up cutting all the holes that i drilled on the side plates, into 3, 3/8" slots, now when i need to adjust the height. i just have to loosen the bolts, lift up the center shaft, put the material in. tighten the bolts, and good to go, no more trying to find holes that will match up.
just a few more little things, finish welding up the hand wheel, & a couple of other small things, and guess what, this will be the first project that i have actually completed, on this airboat journey.:razz:

now i am fabing up some 3/4" pipe dies, and we will see how it does.
this has been an fun and learning project. but i am glad to have another useful tool. just can't wait for it to warm up, so i can put a coat of paint on it.

Wow, nice !! That wheel is bigger than I imagined it was going to be...I like it good job...;thumb;

The hand wheel looks a lot bigger in the picture, it is 24 inches in diameter

just a few more things that i have changed on this project. instead of welding a nut or bolt on the end of the shaft, i drilled & taped a 5/8-11 threads on the ends of the shafts. at least now things are centered.
used red loctite to secure the stud to the center shaft for the hand wheel, and trying the double nut method to keep the hand wheel tight.
looking at installing a brass bushing on the center roller, with some knurling, to give it some more support and not mar up the shaft or the material. and hold it in place with some locking collars. ( still need to make them.)
ended up putting the face mount pillow blocks on the inside, which will give the center shaft more support.
turned some 1" aluminum pipe today and having a bigger hand wheel made it fairly simple.
still working on getting shims and other accessories together, but it has been a good learning project.

well finished up some good but simple pipe dies, that should work for 3/4 to 1 in. tubing. with not putting hard corners like with a conduit or pipe bender, i am thinking there should be a little leeway, and we will see how much it flattens out. i am waiting for the weather to get a little warmer, to roll a 10' stick of conduit, i need a little head room, and outside it is 60 mph gust and 0 degrees now. sorry this test can wait.
for the dies i cut the threaded end off some 2" camlocks, cut out some bushings to take up the space. it feels like it should work.

i have a friend that is going to borrow it next week to turn some 3/4" or 1" aluminum pipe into a 5 or 6 foot radius for a project he is building. the last hoop he built. he used a 500 gallon fuel tank to make the initial bend, and then put a stitch weld ever couple of inches while pulling the tube to get the radius he was needing., hopefully this will work better for him.

there was a good learning curve when i tigged the bushings/spacers with the set screws onto the center roller, i was having so much fun, i left the shaft in place, it was not moving. with a 5 lb sledge, and a punch i drove it 1/2 out. and then it stopped. ended up drilling it out the rest of the way. so i am thinking that those tig welds, even if they don't look so good at the moment. they will take a lot of abuse.
and the best part is, I didnt mess up the inside of the bushing,
my tig welds are getting better, the last time i ever did any major tig welding, as over 30 years ago. maybe when the weather warms up a little i will take a little more time to make them look just a little better,

so another little project that this will help me with is when i build a new cage this spring /summer, i can use this to bend the hoops that protect the prop.
i have a feeling that the second cage is going to turn out a lot better.
the first one i built, ended up not being quite centered, after it was all said and done, there were a couple spots that were just a little to close to the prop end. but it was fun matching up the hoops for a 5 foot prop on a 4 foot wide boat.

well the bender passed its first job, a friend borrowed it to put a 6 foot radius on some 1" aluminum pipe, he was adding some wider sides to a net reel. he sent me a couple of pictures and let me know that it worked out great, and was a lot simpler that the last time he did something like this.
he slit the pipe before bending it. so it could fit over the edge of the extension, and from the pictures, I am seeing a good radius, with no flat spots or kinks.

Yeah, that bender should give years of dependable service the way you built it good job...That reel is impressive...You know the potential for disaster when you add a slit to the tubing but from the pics it appears there was no undue stress/distortion on the tubing...I'm sure that aluminum stock didn't even strain that stout bender !!! ;thumb;

next time i see my friend, i will have to ask him about this, for i would like to know what he did to keep the slit from closing when when he put the bend on it.

This is what this forum is all about. For us guys that are not smart enough to go out and buy tools or have someone else do it. The manly man. I enjoy your projects and great workmanship.