hossfeld or jd bender

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I need your folks opinion on on hossfeld or jd benders what would be the top of the line be?I would like to bend alum and steel any info would be great thankx.
Reply:Even though they look sort of similar, they are really two different machines, for different uses. The basic design of the JD2 bender was copied from a hossfeld, but it was then optimised for one thing- tube bending.So if what you want to do is tube bending, then the JD2 bender is the tool for the job. It is probably the best machine for bending tube and pipe, in its size range, for under about 10 grand.But it wont do any of the other stuff the hossfeld will do.You can buy tube and pipe dies for the hossfeld, and it will bend with them almost as well as the JD2. But unlike the JD2, you can also bend round bar, square bar, angle, t, channel, flat bar the easy way or the hard way, and just about any other profile of metal that is available. So a hossfeld is a complete bending system for almost anything, while a JD2 is a tube and pipe bender only.Ideally, you want one of each. The JD2 is really a good deal, at around 300 bucks for the base machine, although dies add up fast, if you need to do a lot of sizes of tube. The basic hossfeld unit is about $800 new, but it is able to do all kinds of bending, and then you can add additional dies as you need them, or make them yourself in many cases. Sky is the limit on hossfeld cost, if you really want EVERYTHING, but an amazing amount can be done with the base unit, and if you can pony up a couple of grand, you will be set for life. If you say exactly what you want to do with it, I can give further input- I am kinda sold on hossfelds, as I have had mine since 78.