I used a tubing roller a friend of mine made. It had a big honking
forward/reverse motor, and three rollers, and a allthread to adjust the
center roller that put the pressure on the steel. It worked great.

The rollers were only plate that was cut like big washers. They could be
stacked to accommodate different sized tubing, and the two outer round
plates were oversized to squeeze the sides.

Anyone build one of these? Anyone have a plasma cutter and machinery that
can cut me the blanks?

I knew I should have bought that gear drive motor I saw at the thrift store
a while back.

Steve

Yes they work well, but the wheels should be turned on a lathe to the radius of the tube to prevent damage to the tube. Also when
the tubing has a diameter above 1.25" or is made of material stiffer than mild steel, all three wheels must be driven or the
tubing will start to slip damaging the tubing finish. those two items alone will make the bender more complex and more expensive
to make. Properly costed out, you may find that a used machine with all the different wheels is considerably less expensive than
making your own from scratch.
Steve

"Steve B" wrote in message ...
I used a tubing roller a friend of mine made. It had a big honking forward/reverse motor, and three rollers, and a allthread to
adjust the center roller that put the pressure on the steel. It worked great.

The rollers were only plate that was cut like big washers. They could be stacked to accommodate different sized tubing, and the
two outer round plates were oversized to squeeze the sides.

Anyone build one of these? Anyone have a plasma cutter and machinery that can cut me the blanks?

I knew I should have bought that gear drive motor I saw at the thrift store a while back.

Steve