Using a no-dog with a hand bender?
- Thread starter zappy
- Start date
- Status
- Location
- Tennessee NEC:2017
- Occupation
- Semi-Retired Electrician
You generally put the level on the conduit. That's why it has the set screw to tighten up after inserting the level in the end of the conduit. You start out bending with the level showing "level". Then when you move the conduit/turn it around, you make sure it's still showing level. That keeps everything on the same plane, preventing "dog legs".
Fulthrotl
~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
- Occupation
- E
i'm assuming he was using a level on the bender handle in addition to the no dog...
honestly, if you can't tell if a three foot long bender handle is plumb or not, you
really need to stop trying to bend conduit.
- Location
- New Jersey
- Occupation
- Journeyman Electrician
I would never use a no dog on a hand bender. If I couldn't do it by eye it would be time for some glasses.
Knuckle Dragger
Master Electrician Electrical Contractor 01752
- Location
- Marlborough, Massachusetts USA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
If this procedure gives him confidence and helps him complete his task in a neat workman like manner... who is hurting?
K8MHZ
Senior Member
- Occupation
- Electrician
No-dog with hand bender. I can't say I have ever tried it, but there may be some new trick the electrician figured out by using one.
I am curious enough that I would simply ask him what he is doing with it.
I am curious enough that I would simply ask him what he is doing with it.
K8MHZ
Senior Member
- Occupation
- Electrician
Yes a level on the handle also.
Fulthrotl
~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
- Occupation
- E
bending off levels is how i bend pipe.
and i'll use a no dog, as it's helpful, but i've never
considered using a level to plumb the bender handle.
put the no dog on what you want square, lift up the bender
a bit off the floor, let it hang, see if the pipe with the no dog
is how you want it, and bend.
so, i'm not getting how the second level helps with small pipe.
i'll put a level on a power bender to plumb the shoe, and use
a second level to square the pipe i'm bending up, but if i'm
bending 3" tube, something out of square is a bit hard to fix.
Fulthrotl
~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
- Occupation
- E
After enough glasses, you may need the no-dog just to carry the pipe.
the best crew i've ever seen with large GRC, were the most full blown alkys and druggies i've
ever worked with. without a lot of glasses, with many different prescriptions, they couldn't find
their way around the job at all.
When bending handle up, a 0/30/45/90 level on the handle could help someone make more accurate angle bends. Some GB benders have a bubble vial built into the shoe, but it's only good for handle straight up 30° bends (some of their older shoes were 45°). On occasion, I've used a protractor for odd angle bends.
Cow
Senior Member
- Location
- Eastern Oregon
- Occupation
- Electrician
Using a level on a bender handle is a crutch in my opinion.
I would get on my guys if I saw them doing this. I would rather have them practice at the shop on a whole bundle of pipe getting a feel for plumb and level without a level than repeatedly putting a level on a hand bender while on a jobsite wasting man hours.
I would get on my guys if I saw them doing this. I would rather have them practice at the shop on a whole bundle of pipe getting a feel for plumb and level without a level than repeatedly putting a level on a hand bender while on a jobsite wasting man hours.
K8MHZ
Senior Member
- Occupation
- Electrician
I have never had a dog leg in a piece of EMT that I could bend with a hand bender be so bad I couldn't straighten it out by hand afterward.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
- Occupation
- EC
It only works when working surface is level, some people almost always have that, others do not.
keith gigabyte
Senior Member
- Location
- New Kensington, Pa
Ok maybe I'm too old...what is a no dog? I've used hand benders usually no dog leg On my bends but if there is use steps or the vice and bender handle to fix.
qcroanoke
Sometimes I don't know if I'm the boxer or the bag
- Location
- Roanoke, VA.
- Occupation
- Sorta retired........
K8MHZ
Senior Member
- Occupation
- Electrician
Haha I have one these, didn't buy it and don't know where it came from. Never thought of using it like that. Clever.
bullheimer
Senior Member
- Location
- WA
maybe for ridgid in a shoe but certainly not for emt. SHOW him how to do it right w/o one and stop wasting time. i'm obviously with those who think it's useless. If he was a j-man i would fire him. Apprentice: school him.
Coppersmith
Senior Member
- Location
- Tampa, FL, USA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
I own a no-dog but hardly ever use it since it's usually easier to sight the pipe for dog purposes. However I always use a level on the bender handle since it makes two near-perfect 30 degree bends resulting in a nicely bent offset that fits the place I'm putting it. Saying it's a crutch is just as ridiculous as saying using a tape rule to measure between points is a crutch. -- Jman eyeing two pipes to be connected says to apprentice "Looks like a 34 inch offset, bend me one of those. ... Hey, how come the pipe missed by three inches? You must have bent it wrong! And stop using that level!"
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