Bending 22mm pipe

[learnplum]

Hi, do most use a hand held device, or a spring, if you are a samson, or a free standing device, like the hilmor one?
Thanks.:tounge_smile:

 

[SimonG]

Hand held. Want a stand mounted bender though.

 

[lame plumber]

getting old and weak, so loads of elbows

 

[Alanc]

For my work I use handheld hilmor, by the time you've carried your toolbox, crimper, pipe etc.....I ain't carrying a floor standing bender aswell.

 

[Spreck]

Yep hand held and my weetabix!

 

[AlexGas]

Hi, do most use a hand held device, or a spring, if you are a samson, or a free standing device, like the hilmor one?
Thanks.:tounge_smile:

Hand held. Get free standing one if you need to bend 28 or 35mm copper pipe.

 

[learnplum]

Thanks guys, can you get a hand held accurate bend?
Or is the free standing floor hilmor more accurate?

 

[AlexGas]

Thanks guys, can you get a hand held accurate bend?
Or is the free standing floor hilmor more accurate?

What do you call accurate? +-2mm?
It’s up to you to make it accurate.

 

[missplumb]

bend it and cut it to size, whats left goes to the scrapman!! - for a fee of course

 

[cr0ft]

Hand held! Good for upper body muscle building!

If you are a bit devoid of muscles it can be hard to bend 22mm in a hand bender though.

 

[learnplum]

Hi the hand held looks more hard work?
Isn,t it about right tools, pay a bit more, easy life?:tounge_smile:

 

[DrainMedic]

The Record bender is (in my opinion) far superior to the Hilmor. Floor standing models I mean.

 

[Kyle87]

Hand held! Good for upper body muscle building!

If you are a bit devoid of muscles it can be hard to bend 22mm in a hand bender though.

It's easy. Just put one bender arm on the ground and put your body weight on the other

 

[Best]

A good quality hand held bender or a good quality floor bender will both bend pipes neatly & properly.
The floor bender is far superior overall for most work though. Very foolish to attempt large jobs with a hand bender as it will get hard work after a while.
I have 2 floor Hilmor benders which are probably 50 years old, one of which is fairly big and has a vice plus an adjustable lever arm which means I can set it to suit this modern light copper we get nowadays. The other standard sized Hilmor bender is fairly easy to carry.
I also have a Record hand bender which is excellent & handy & a new unused Hilmor.

 

[PhoenixServices]

I use a old record one that my gf's grandad gave me. But it seems to deform the pipe in the guides a little. Then the pipe is really tough to get out. Only on 22mm though. Anyone know why?

 

[Best]

I use a old record one that my gf's grandad gave me. But it seems to deform the pipe in the guides a little. Then the pipe is really tough to get out. Only on 22mm though. Anyone know why?

Are you sure the wheel is actually 22mm? It could be for 3/4". Any of the old wheels I know of were green colour for 22mm & red for 3/4"
Make sure you clean the wheels etc with emery cloth & steel wool & give them a spray of oil.

 

[cr0ft]

Hi the hand held looks more hard work?
Isn,t it about right tools, pay a bit more, easy life?:tounge_smile:

Depends really. If your work is mostly domestic then you will rarely work on anything larger than 22mm. The floor benders are a lot more bulky than hand ones and so take up more space in the van and take longer to set up.

if you regularly work with 28mm or larger pipe then it's worth spending the cash on them.

I expect my apprentices to be pulling accurate bends every time after a year working with me (using a hand bender).

 

[learnplum]

Thanks all, hand held it is for now.
Practice makes perfect.(Will end up destroying innocent 22mm pipe this saturday morning lol.):tounge_smile:

 

[learnplum]

Hi I have found a hand held device, is hard work pulling a simple 90 degrees bend?
Lot of muscle needed, in my opinion?:tounge_smile:

 

[Best]

Yep, lots of muscle needed with a hand bender & 22mm!
Try resting one of the handles of the bender on the ground as somebody said earlier & that lets you lean on the other handle using your weight to help you.
Trust me, best way is to own both a hand bender & a floor bender. If you ever get a fairly big job bring the big floor bender as well to do most of the work.

 

[learnplum]

I would say a hand held device, in the year 2015, is backward?
Too much effort? Too pull a simple bend?

 

[goz666]

Hand held now for me, even though pulling a 22mm pipe round my knee is still possible it isn't as easy as it was !!

 

[Best]

A frame floor bender is not that big if you have a van. It can easily be hung upright at the back of most vans. Ironically, the newer square framed benders are heavy compared with the older top quality round framed. Probably mainly due to box section being more material than round.

 

[tamz]

A stand bending machine is rarer than hens teeth unless on a site or a big job where it can sit there. Tbh there is not much need for them if you never do anything much more than 22mm
Also most plumbers would rather spend 300 quid on a new dewalt screwdriver than a stand up. Such is life.

I would say a hand held device, in the year 2015, is backward?
Too much effort? Too pull a simple bend?

You starting to feel your age :wink:

 

[tamz]

Btw anyone should be able to bend mm perfect on any machine and fit to the clips. It only takes a little practice and once you learn you never forget.
Another btw. Mark your wheel.

 

[kay-jay]

it is not hard to bend 22 mm with a hand held bender. kyle said it before and i will say it again now. simply rest one leg on the floor and use your body weight to operate the other arm as a lever.
if you dont do this you will likely need steroids!

 

[Dotty]

it is not hard to bend 22 mm with a hand held bender. kyle said it before and i will say it again now. simply rest one leg on the floor and use your body weight to operate the other arm as a lever.
if you dont do this you will likely need steroids!

Yeah but Porky's got a lot of body weight he can use.....

 

[cr0ft]

As tamz said, when you are starting up there are plenty of better tools to spend your money on. I would strongly recommend a decent impact driver as being worth it's weight in gold. You and your wrists will soon get fed up of driving screws in by hand.

A good chunk of the work involved in plumbing isn't plumbing if that makes sense, it's all the other stuff like lifting/fixing flooring etc. Think about what you can spend your cash on that makes these jobs easier. Things like: -

Circular saw
Fein cutter or equivalent
Cordless drill
Impact driver

Much more useful than a floor standing bender imo.

 

[jaydebruyne]

Handheld. They can be thrown in a rubble sack with loads of other bits you need rather than yet another trip to the van just to get the benders.. Plus another trip when you leave. I'm like water, always follow the path of least resistance

 

[Irish]

I use a old record one that my gf's grandad gave me. But it seems to deform the pipe in the guides a little. Then the pipe is really tough to get out. Only on 22mm though. Anyone know why?

If they're your girlfriends grandads benders they woulda been for 3/4 not 22mm I'd say

 

[lame plumber]

If they're your girlfriends grandads benders they woulda been for 3/4 not 22mm I'd say

your probably getting too old, loads of grandads floating around out there who are post decimalization

 

[Mike Jackson]

I would say a hand held device, in the year 2015, is backward?
Too much effort? Too pull a simple bend?

If you're really too weak to pull a bend on a hand held machine have a look at ROTHENBERGER ROBEND® 3000 - Portable, sturdy power bender for cold bending up to 180°, 12 - 28 mm (1/2" - 7/8")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE00xW0Wn0k

Yours for a mere £1,195.00 Rothenberger Robend 3000 Electric Tube Bender 2.5705/2.5706 240/110v | ProToolsDirect

Unless you are pulling hundreds of bends exactly the same it will take longer than bending by hand and is a damn site heavier than my hand bender at 13 Kg.

Looking at the video I reckon I can set up my stand bender and pull a 28 bend quicker than with that machine. My stand bender will also do 35 which the machine won't.

 

[SimonG]

I would say a hand held device, in the year 2015, is backward?
Too much effort? Too pull a simple bend?

If pulling a 22 bend is too much effort then you either need to hit the gym or drive a desk. Find a way thats comfortable with you. I stick a leg on the floor and lean on it. Just make sure you dont do it on a fancy floor and put a ding in it

 

[Best]

You could always shove a length of metal pipe over each of the hand benders arms to give more leverage. And if you really want to make it easy you could make a frame for to hold it all in, thus keeping it fixed, higher & steady. OR - just buy a stand bender! :smile:
On a serious note - Don't forget that the hand benders often have a square centre as they are also designed for to clamp the bender horizontally into a decent vice to make bending easier.

 

[learnplum]

Hi simon why should I go too the gym, too bend copper pipe in 2015?
It is a struggle, too bend 22mm copper pipe on a basic bender?
Not floor mounted?:tounge_smile: