Rouge Bender and Stand

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So I have had this bender for a while now. I tacked it together with MIG, did a couple of welds here and there with the MIG, let it cool a bit before laying some more weld down and it sat for 4-5 months.. (long slow cool time)  Fast forward to this weekend and my MIG welder is out of gas and I don't feel like driving across town to pick a new bottle up, I'll get to it. Anyway, have a fresh box of Hobart 7018's, haven't ran any in a coons age and figured that I would run them to finish the job as I am very much a function before fashion kind of guy. I spent a while Saturday setting up cuts on the saw and welding in between.I tried to clamp the bender the best I could during the welding process, but there is so much weld in such a small area, it was bound to bend some. (Rogue calls for the bender to be welded all the way around..) All in all, I don't think that it turned out half bad, nothing a little heat won't fix. I still need to weld the stand up, but was trying to keep my saw running as much as I can so decided to cut some extra stuff as well between welding.Some of the initial MIG welding:Attachment 923041Attachment 923051Attachment 923061Attachment 923071Attachment 923081More..
Reply:And on to the 7018 welding..Attachment 923091Attachment 923101Attachment 923111Attachment 923121Attachment 923131Last edited by NicheFab; 12-02-2014 at 04:43 AM.
Reply:And a few parts that I was cutting for the stand, bench vice mount, hitch tube support..Attachment 923161Attachment 923171Last edited by NicheFab; 12-02-2014 at 04:54 AM.
Reply:And now the ugly.. The bends that need heat.Attachment 923241Attachment 923251More to come in time..-NicheLast edited by NicheFab; 12-02-2014 at 04:52 AM.
Reply:Looking good. I'm interested in finding out how you like the bender. I've thought about buying that one.That channel is gonna be a pain to flame straighten the hard way. Good luck with it!GravelThe difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference.
Reply:Nice looks good!!
Reply:There's way too much weld on that thing.  I really think the manufacturer is full of crap for requiring full length welds.  Especially where the thing is attached to the large piece of "floor" plate.  Same with the welds attaching the "floor" plate to the channel.  All of them are just crying out distortion.Like said.....channel can be a real boooooger to straighten, and it's really hard to straighten when you have a flange issue like you have.Pie shaped heating pattern, less heat in the flange because if you put too much heat in it, it will want to bend along the outside of the lip.  Although, with that big honkin plate holding it square, it might not bend to the outside.  Dunno........have to see how it tries to shrink.Just heating the channel might not be enough.  You have quite a bit of distortion in the middle of the field, what with the bending gizmo welded full length.I'm sure you'll get it.  It just takes a bit of patience to see where the heat tries to draw it when you heat it, and where there's resistance in other areas."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:On a lot of stuff I make, I straighten as I go.  If something pulls, I'll straighten it before doing any further welding.  It seems to make it easier in the final straightening process."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Would this be a reasonable candidate for running a weld bead to introduce an "opposite" (don't know what else to call it) warp to bring it towards being back in line?   (Farmersamm's 2008 post)  Backbeading, that's it.
Reply:Farmer, I have to agree. I don't think that it needed to be welded all the way around either. The biggest thing that I don't want to happen is for it to come apart under load, so I heeded their recommendations despite my concerns. Ehh, live and learn.El Bob, I thought about that for a brief moment, but it is actually that flimsy channel which is subjected to the bow vs being the cause of it. I think that I will have to heat multiple points to draw it back.The good thing is that it ONLY has that bit of bow but no there is no major twist to speak of. Having done a fair amount of flame straightening in the past I think that she'll come straight, but the only problem at this point is that I have yet to acquire a set of torches in all of the shop build-up that I have done so far. Oh well, it will have to wait a couple of weeks till I get past Christmas. I'll update the thread with the hopefully straightened before it goes on the stand.Speaking of stand, I started in on that this weekend. I still need to finish the feet and add casters, but it's coming along. I did a mock-up with the stand, bender and ram just to see if everything lines up, and it does. I'll finish what I can, then it will have to get put on the sidelines till I get some torches and/or finish other upcoming projects..Attachment 932731Attachment 932741Attachment 932751Attachment 932761
Reply:I agree that it doesn't need to be welded fully. I got slight deflection (maybe 1/16" over the entire surface) on the channel like yours did; but I minimized my welds and did the uprights with a stitch. Initially, I was getting really pissed off at it; I was finding it bulky to use and slow. Most of the pain was from the fact that the bend-offset that I was inputting into Bend Tech Pro was incorrect. Clearing that up and doing an actual calibration saved all of my issues for the most part. I plan on adding an electric over hydraulic conversion to it (scored a powerpack/valve/gauge off Craigslist for $100, as well as a cart/die stand. It's a heavy 'sum bitch - just about throw my back out every time I lift it up on to my bench. The included "degree sticker" is pretty close - but do yourself a favor and buy one of these: https://www.grizzly.com/products/Ang...l-Bevel/T21562I still haven't figured out a fool proof way to change die sets without pinching some fingers and yelling some choice profanity....I like your stand!A few of my projects:Do you really know all of the work that goes into getting that fish onto your plate?
Reply:Nice work!Checkout my youtube channel:  http://www.youtube.com/turbocobra
Reply:Originally Posted by turbocobraNice work!
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Reply:I learned a few things putting this bender together and need to tell myself to slow down sometimes. There is a whole lot of shoulda, coulda, woulda looking back on it, but I figure that all's well that ends well as long as I learned something from my mistakes.Attachment 990801-Niche
Reply:Nice results!GravelThe difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference.
Reply:I really like that bender.   Please post some of your projects.   Looks like it turned out good for you once you got it straightened.  Good luck with it.
Reply:There's supposed to be a bolt/nut on anchor point of the hydraulic ram. With the hitch pin, the tabs will deflect under the tension from bending.Don't ask me how I know...Do you really know all of the work that goes into getting that fish onto your plate?
Reply:Originally Posted by jeverichThere's supposed to be a bolt/nut on anchor point of the hydraulic ram. With the hitch pin, the tabs will deflect under the tension from bending.Don't ask me how I know...
Reply:Originally Posted by richeyI really like that bender.   Please post some of your projects.   Looks like it turned out good for you once you got it straightened.  Good luck with it.