Homemade ultimate bending machine - videos

**Jon** · Dec 4, 2019, 11:05 AM

Homemade ultimate bending machine. By Barts Metalwork.

23:57 video:

22:48 video:

18:17 video:

20:21 video:

Previously:

Homemade blacksmith platen bending jig - video
Homemade adjustable bending jig from sockets - photo
Homemade forklift-mounted tube bender with plywood dies - video
Homemade adjustable tubing and pipe bender - video
Wall-mounted bodyweight-assisted metal bender - GIF
Homemade metal bending tools for making earwax removal picks - GIFs

**mwmkravchenko** · Dec 4, 2019, 07:05 PM

Might be a good idea. I'll watch the videos and see.

**Frank S** · Dec 4, 2019, 11:01 PM

Once you start the first video you might as well sit down with a bag of popcorn because you will watch all of them before you move I let them run a 1.5 speed because you can still understand what he is saying.
A great universal bending machine

**mwmkravchenko** · Dec 5, 2019, 05:26 AM

Well no popcorn. But I did watch them all. The only shortcomings that I can see is the roller spacing of the ring rollers. The rest makes sense.

Personally I'd fasten it down. I've worked with benders similar to this and it gets hard to counter your own force. Plus it seriously limits what you can do. If all your strength is devoted to bending it's a different story.

**Frank S** · Dec 5, 2019, 07:17 AM

Originally Posted by mwmkravchenko

Well no popcorn. But I did watch them all. The only shortcomings that I can see is the roller spacing of the ring rollers. The rest makes sense.

Personally I'd fasten it down. I've worked with benders similar to this and it gets hard to counter your own force. Plus it seriously limits what you can do. If all your strength is devoted to bending it's a different story.

You have to give him one thing though, to combine as many different aspects of bending metals into a single machine does take some thought.
I agree on the distance for the rollers for the plate and ring roller however given that he utilized his existing frame as the basis for these limits where he would be able to locate hiss rollers. One way to counter this to a certain extent would be to make larger diameter dies for rolling rings and other things.
Yes not having the machine mounted does pose issues but as we all know many of us can not dedicate an area solely for the purpose of any singular job function, meaning there has to be a trade off somewhere.
I used to have a shop that had oilfield drill pipe collars embedded flush in the floor at various places allowing me to use the floor more or less in much the same way as you would a platen table for clamping pushing or pulling against. These had been placed there by a previous owner who had a body shop he used them for straightening vehicle frames. I used them for fabrication of large assemblies.
Looking as his machine yes for my purposes I can spot a few things right off the bat which I would do differently should I be so inclined to construct such a machine, but I have the advantage of seeing an already completed machine with several singular purpose machines already incorporated into the design.
And one thing is for certain finished does not mean completed there will be numerous dies and attachments he will need to make for it over time.

**mwmkravchenko** · Dec 5, 2019, 06:55 PM

Originally Posted by Frank S

You have to give him one thing though, to combine as many different aspects of bending metals into a single machine does take some thought.
I agree on the distance for the rollers for the plate and ring roller however given that he utilized his existing frame as the basis for these limits where he would be able to locate hiss rollers. One way to counter this to a certain extent would be to make larger diameter dies for rolling rings and other things.
Yes not having the machine mounted does pose issues but as we all know many of us can not dedicate an area solely for the purpose of any singular job function, meaning there has to be a trade off somewhere.
I used to have a shop that had oilfield drill pipe collars embedded flush in the floor at various places allowing me to use the floor more or less in much the same way as you would a platen table for clamping pushing or pulling against. These had been placed there by a previous owner who had a body shop he used them for straightening vehicle frames. I used them for fabrication of large assemblies.
Looking as his machine yes for my purposes I can spot a few things right off the bat which I would do differently should I be so inclined to construct such a machine, but I have the advantage of seeing an already completed machine with several singular purpose machines already incorporated into the design.
And one thing is for certain finished does not mean completed there will be numerous dies and attachments he will need to make for it over time.

I agree with you. Great machine. And easy to be the arm chair quarterback. Larger diameter dies would fix the only thing that I can find fault with. If I have the need for some serious bending I will consult those videos again for sure.

**barts metalwork** · Dec 23, 2019, 02:42 PM

Hi Guys,

Thanks for sharing my video. I found this forum a few days ago and joint so I can share some more of my homemade tools and answer some questions.

About the bending machine. After one year of use I still like the design. I have a small shop and for me this really is the ultimate version. All the different bending tools exist but not in one small machine. And I agree with the distance of the rollers. If I would change one thing, that would be it. But on the other hand, I didn’t have any real problems with it so far. I do use different size rollers. But there is also a benefit to it, the bending force is much greater because the contact points are further apart. That makes it easier to do heavy work.

I am now moving to a bigger shop. There I will make a big welding table where I can bolt the machine on to if I need to do heavy work. But until now it worked out fine with the extra arm to hold it in place. And when I use the Hossfeld type bender I use the extra leverage arm that counters the force on the big mounting plate. Then the machine won't move.

One weak point in my design is the mounting of the big round plate with the hole pattern. It is strong but not meant to be used with very high forces. Bolting the machine to the floor will mean that the forces will more likely go through this plate mounting. Using the counter arm or the extra leverage arm, and getting a feel for the forces when its moving a little bit on the floor helps to minimize the risk of putting to much force on it.

The design was all in my head, step by step. Doing it again I would change a few other things (like the guiding of the rollers). But most of it worked out great. And I make new tools / dies when I need them.

If you guys have any questions about the build process or need some dimensions (I don’t have any plans) then let me know.

Greetings from the Netherlands, Bart