Pipe Bending Video

Status
Not open for further replies.
I have a measure that I use to quanify or rate a conduit run.

"One or less sticks, less than 10 feet" (say 99' and and a single 12" scrap) and "The fewest bends" As the ideal....

Many years ago I was told that the secret of conduit bending was to actually bend it as little as possible.
 
e57 said:
I have a measure that I use to quanify or rate a conduit run.

"One or less sticks, less than 10 feet" (say 99' and and a single 12" scrap) and "The fewest bends" As the ideal....

Many years ago I was told that the secret of conduit bending was to actually bend it as little as possible.
Click to expand...
Not sure that is a secret.:D
 
pridelion said:
i am looking for someone who has a pipe bending video they are done with that they could give me or loan to me for awhile to view it. Would anyone be able to help with this? Thank you,
Click to expand...

I have the Tom Henry precision bending Video. Send me a PM
 
My biggest dislike is 2" EMT. Kinky damn stuff. Worst is 6"GRC - 180 pounds of thud when you set it down, and after handling it, it leaves marks on body parts I didn't even know I had.

Going with the Celtic on this 4"GRC. No one ever comes over and asks "Ya done yet?" Two people can do pretty good with it, providing both are experienced.
 
If anyone else has a spare video, or one they no longer need, I'm willing to pay for it. I suck at bending pipe, and since I'm the lead man, (and we dont do much work that requires a lot of bending), I have no one to learn from.

I really really need help.
 
some of what I was taught...

some of what I was taught...

I had an old Armenian guy teach me to bend EMT when I was about 13-14 years old. He knocked a lot of good advice into my head that I haven't forgotten, and some that I had to refresh myself on when I started bending after a 15 year break from electrical work.

First rule of thumb, always check the actual measurement you need for a stub. The bender will have one thing on it, but it's almost never correct. Ex., with the 3/4" bender I use, it says to add 6" for stubs, when in reality you need to add 6 3/8" to get the right stub. Along with this, check the actual placement of the star and teardrop markings. They tend to be wrong as well.

To bend box offsets (1/2" to KO), put the connector on first. With the bender head in the air, butt the connector (screw up) to the bender, make a close-to-10? bend, flip the pipe, put your thumb to the edge of the conn and the bottom knuckle on the front edge of the bender, line up, bend the other half of the offset. Play with the angle to match your thumb length.

For three-point saddles, I prefer not to use the method most guides give (30?-60?-30?) since it makes a big-honkin' King Kong style handle in your pipe ;). It's better to use a 15?-30?-15? offset (using the same formula for the 30-60-30 offset) and try to keep it about 1/2" over top of what your jumping. In addition to looking better, it makes the pull easier. I haven't bent 1/2" EMT in years, but IIRC you can do thumb measurements for the 15? bends once you have your center bend for jumping another 1/2" pipe.
kksaddle.jpg


I think for most four-point saddles, the best is to use all 30? bends for two reasons: 1) you can use the x2 multiplier for your markings, and 2) you know you have a perfect 30? bend when the bender handle is standing straight up in the air. This is especially helpful on larger stuff like 1 1/4" EMT which is a beast to bend by yourself. A torpedo level is all you need :)

One thing to keep in mind for reducing the number of bends (I mention it because I also tend to forget it...) is: If you have a place where you need a smallish offset (<6") within a few feet of a 90, it's better to make the 90 and then kick it up or down so you only have to make a regular offset instead of a saddle to move back to the plane you want to be in. In this example it's hard to forget about this technique, but there are other situations where it comes in handy and may not be such an obvious solution (ex. changing direction and planes in a truss ceiling).
90offset.jpg



Now, if there's anybody out there who weighs less that 200 lbs. and can bend a perfect 90 in 1 1/4" EMT without kinking the pipe, please let me know how to do it! :)


Good luck!
 
This book -

83.jpg


Is the best bookever wrote on bending. It gives you simple principles, doesn't provide experienced JW to walk you through though...

I don't know what they're teaching nowadays, but I've always bent bigger pipe through the center, when doing serious amount of bending, and needs to "look pretty".

Guess I'm pretty much a flat liner for three points 10' x 22'soft x 10', had to pull to much wire through trash.
 
Heres one you won't find in a book or a video. (Or at least I haven't and I've had a number of different books over the years) Rolling off-sets.... Rather than 2 sets of off-sets to change two different planes - you can use just one.

You don't have to put notches in your bender - but over time it does help avoid the dog-leg blues. And you can also use a chalk-line to mark lines on conduit - but a pencil dragged across the top works well once you get the hang of it.
 
Yepp! it appears to be 3 of them pictured.... (or maybe it's the angle of the photo?) But yes, the highlighted one is.

Someone once told me there is a formula that you could use to do it and get the right distance by making some sort of equation using X and Y. But I found little use for it due to it not giving you the angle in which to take it.....

Most people would also just have this bend by itself and roll it in the coupling in the desired direction. But that is an extra cut, coupling and strap IMO.

Since you seem to have a picture of a few different bends on hand.... This one is my favorite: Double kicked 90

A 90, with a 30 or so kick on BOTH sides.
This is the best rendition I can come up with right now.
doublekicked90.jpg
 
I've used the trick in post#34. In 33 I think people try to over think it. Being able to se the whole run in your head, before you start helps. If a person just vertically measures about where the pipe will come down, and to the front, or back, (however you want to get your "number" for the offset total) of where the fitting will be in the box, good to go. Can't imagine that it's so ugly a quick 30 second adjustment wouldn't fix it, at least to ballpark fit.

If I have to pull co-ax through a pipe in the overhead, and it's out of sight, lots of times I'll make big, segmented bends so that the radius is as big as I can get it, to facilitate on the wirepull. Don't want to be worn out on th first pull!
 
e57 said:
Yepp! it appears to be 3 of them pictured.... (or maybe it's the angle of the photo?) But yes, the highlighted one is.
Click to expand...

The other 3/4" might have a slight roll in it (maybe 1/2") but it wasn't designed as a rolling offset, so it's probably just the photo.

e57 said:
Someone once told me there is a formula that you could use to do it and get the right distance by making some sort of equation using X and Y. But I found little use for it due to it not giving you the angle in which to take it.....
Click to expand...

I think if you had to add other bends past this one, the easiest way to get your angle, or very close to it is to take two measurements at the start - one using a dummy pipe for the back to back distance of the offset, the other (looking perpendicularly at the plane) from center of KO to center of dummy pipe. This will allow you to set the pipe up against a wall or something on the ground once you have your offset and match the angle by measuring out from the wall to the side of the pipe. Once you have a match, you can draw a centerline down the top of the pipe as it's laying on the floor. That centerline will be one of four points in your new crosshair :)

e57 said:
Since you seem to have a picture of a few different bends on hand.... This one is my favorite: Double kicked 90

A 90, with a 30 or so kick on BOTH sides.
This is the best rendition I can come up with right now.
doublekicked90.jpg
Click to expand...

Cool! I haven't needed one of them yet but I'll definitely keep it in mind.

Regards,
 
PetrosA said:
I think if you had to add other bends past this one, the easiest way to get your angle, or very close to it is to take two measurements at the start - one using a dummy pipe for the back to back distance of the offset, the other (looking perpendicularly at the plane) from center of KO to center of dummy pipe. This will allow you to set the pipe up against a wall or something on the ground once you have your offset and match the angle by measuring out from the wall to the side of the pipe. Once you have a match, you can draw a centerline down the top of the pipe as it's laying on the floor. That centerline will be one of four points in your new crosshair :)
(Pretty much what I have here.)


Cool! I haven't needed one of them yet but I'll definitely keep it in mind.
Click to expand...
For the double kick 90 (Great for clearing a single conduit) - just remember you need to get some distance between the 90 and the two kicks to get enough 'lift' to clear the obstical without needing too tight of a bend. The further the better - it makes the bend look very subtle, and a significant reduction of amount of degrees.... You also need to do the 90 and the double kicks BEFORE any other bends on the stick - as it will rotate the axis of those bends on both sides of it.

To make it:
Do the 90 (Compensate for shrinkage in the same way you would for an off-set)
Do one of the kicks (remember that the obstical will need to be cleared at roughly the 1/3 point of the radius)
Then the second kick - the angle will match when the other side is laying back flat on the floor again in much the same way a saddle would as this is kind of a saddle bend with a 90 in middle of it.....
 
Last edited:
I did so much bending when I was the young guy, I got very good at it. I listened to the experienced guys and read a booklet one of them gave me. That book was older than I am now. I don't remember the name on it, but I wish I still had it. Conduit bending is all about practice. And knowing when to throw that one away and bend a new one.
 
mdshunk said:
Sounds like maybe the Benfield book.
Click to expand...

It may well have been. It was a very good book. It helped make sense of what I was being told by the more experienced guys. I remember well having them first yelling and then laughing from the lift or scaffold as I bent an absolutely perfect offset or stub, - in the wrong direction. :grin:
 
Bending pipe without a ruler

Bending pipe without a ruler

76nemo said:
How many of you use Benfield's technique? How many of you bend by thumbpoint and don't leave a mark? I don't have the skill to not leave a mark at a bend. I've seen guys not even use a tape. Reminds me I do maintenance, not construction. I can fit the pipe like a glove, but you guys would be two branches ahead of me:confused:
Click to expand...
If you mark up the bender handle you will not need a ruler it seems impressive to the ones who have never seen it. Smoke and mirrors mostly.
 
quogueelectric said:
If you mark up the bender handle you will not need a ruler it seems impressive to the ones who have never seen it. Smoke and mirrors mostly.
Click to expand...
I had one of those self-adhesive tape measures on my 3/4" bender handle for years, but it eventually scuffed off. I might put one on again, but I'd probably spray it with a few coats of spray lacquer to keep it on for longer. I think those self-adhesive tape measures are only a couple dollars at a woodworking store, and you get like 10 feet of the stuff. Enough for your 1/2, 3/4, and 1" bender handle if you wanted to do all three.
 
Can someone at least tell me where I can find a video (or book if no video) on the net. I have looked, but haven't had any success. I really should just go to work for a company that does that type of work, but I cant afford a pay cut.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top