Tube Benders....again.....

As the "other" company with the dies that don't interchange, I don't understand the need to have the common die design. They are significantly more expensive. We are the only company that makes dies in the $200 range that bend 180 degrees.

Tube collapse and wrinkling is caused by a bad ratio of tube OD, wall thickness, and bend radius. Large OD, thin wall, and small bend radius will flatten and kink the worst. Other than that, unless the die design is bad, they will all bend about the same. This statement assumes you are comparing two rotary draw tubing benders (most structural tube benders are). Benders using mandrel and wiper dies are lower distortion as well, but tooling is 10X the cost and much higher wear.

We have a 1.75x4.5 die, which is very tight radius. This die is for our customers who want to save every penny possible, because it is a compromise on the tube collapse (about 10%, compared to 6% on a larger radius). But our bender with this die set is less expensive than most people can build a bender for with a die set from "the other guys".

For the past 90 question- Nearly never on roll cages and frames for race cars. On trucks/jeeps, every front bumper stinger and shock hoop. Not a high percentage of your bends, but it is nice not having to borrow tools or pay for individual bends to finish your project.

 

My concern, and some others looking to buy one, is not the cost of the dies but the availability of the dies in 5 years. Not that your company is not strong and and seems to have a good future but I also know things happen and companies do come and go. I don't want to buy a product and even 20 years later find I need a new die and there is no place to go get one.

JD and Pro-Tools, even if they go out of business tomorrow, have a lot of product on the market and I am sure, even in 30 years, I could locate a die if I needed one. Nothing against any product, just a fact.

And I do appreciate any feedback.