Hydraulic Tube bender

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There was some talk in another thread about adding hydraulics to a Hossfeld or JD2 tube bender. Below are a few quick pics I took of mine just to give an idea of what all is involved. There are much cheaper ways to do this if you have access to cylinders and hydraulics. Attached Imageshttp://jackalopefab.com/MM210Synchrowave 200DXMiller XMT350 w/60series feederMiller Bobcat 250 with SGA 100 and spoolgunHTP PlasmaFull Machine shop with everything
Reply:This is the second version of the bender I have done. The first was similar, but I had some problems with the entire assembly "scissoring" and twisting which made it very difficult to get accurate bends after rotation of the part.This current design was machined so as to provide absolute square fit up and eliminate any possibility of tool error. You can also see that under the hydraulic cylinder there is a piece of plate that acts as a rest for the heavy cylinder. Because the cylinder extends out as the bend progresses, the weight of the cylinder was part of the reason the frame/bender was scissoring and twisting. This design was a huge improvement.Hope this helps someone.Granthttp://jackalopefab.com/MM210Synchrowave 200DXMiller XMT350 w/60series feederMiller Bobcat 250 with SGA 100 and spoolgunHTP PlasmaFull Machine shop with everything
Reply:Hey Jackalope-That was me asking about the Hossfeld hydraulic conversion, thanks for posting your solutions.  This week has been getting some bids out and painting the tool boxes and bed on the welding rig while still trying to locte an affordable electric/hydraulic power pack.  I was looking at the drawing I made of the armatures for the Hossfeld taken off a freinds set up and started to wonder if the Hossfeld armatures were hardened steel like they claim the rest of the machine is made from.  I was planning on plain old A36.  Any opinion on that?  2" X 1/2" steel A36 should be strong enough I'm thinking.  Really like that cylinder support plate, I'll be watching out for those twisting conditions.
Reply:pipeftr,   You don't need a all contained power pack, and can make one yourself. You just need to look at this exactly like a log splitter set up. Get a motor, coupler to hydraulic pump and then plumb the reservoir. Put a log splitter valve in series and hook up the ram.   As for the steel, hot rolled steel is fine, but I would opt for cold rolled because it has square shoulders and will be much better if you machine the frame or even weld it. Having truly square shoulders makes for a better frame because everything will be square. I would also opt for at least 3" x 1/2" plate. Just gives that much more rigidity.  The twisting I had so much trouble with was also amplified by having a huge piece of tube hanging out past the bender-post bend. Not a problem feeding the tube in because I always use a roller for support, but once you bend the tube and it has mutliple beds, it causes the entire assembly to twist and contort.  You will definately want to order the Bend tech software. This one tool will save you TONS of money in saved tubing by eliminating error and wasted tube. It is a MUST.  Granthttp://jackalopefab.com/MM210Synchrowave 200DXMiller XMT350 w/60series feederMiller Bobcat 250 with SGA 100 and spoolgunHTP PlasmaFull Machine shop with everything