On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 15:10:29 -0500,
wrote:

Hello eveyone,

I don't have the money to spend on a emt offset bender("kicker") and
don't want to spend money on offset fittings for emt to handy boxes.
So..... I'm guessing there was a way to do this by using a simple
conduit bender hand tool....is there?

I'm not experienced enough to teach you how, especially long-distance,
text only. But I have done it, and I discovered a trick that made it
easier for me. And this is Usenet, after all, where any idiot can pose
as an expert.

There are 2 bends to make, of course. I make the one closer to the end
of the tubing first. How much do I bend it? I don't really know. A
little. Then I turn the tubing around, putting it about as far into
the bender as it will go.

Here's the trick. I put it on the floor at the threshold of my garage.
There's a drop-off of about an inch and a half in the floor level
there, which allows the bent part of the conduit to face "down" while
still allowing the bender to touch the ground. I suspect that this
could be done on a 2x4 if your topography isn't suitable.

I bend it until the previously "bent" part is now parallel to the
ground again. A fair percentage of the time I get it right. Buy extra
tubing and START with the offset end. If you screw it up, cut it off
and do it again.

There's another reason besides cost to bend your own offsets. In my
experience, wire pulls through tubing a lot more easily than through
any kind of connector, so the fewer of them you use the better.

Greg Guarino