Hydraulic ram for tube bender.

[Stomis]

So I got a Model 3 JD2 on trade from my buddy. My initial thought was to do the SWAG conversion bracket with the air over hydro ram from harbor freight and get the thing going for minimal investment.

A friend of a friend comes and buys some transmission from me and we get to talking. Turns out her has a buddy with the same setup and he says its ridiculously slow. Said his compressor wasnt the greatest but would prefer to bend by hand vs that setup. I dont really have that option because you can bend chromo by hand. So he recommends I source a cheapy plow ram and pump and build a 12v setup with a battery charger to plug in.

So now Im researching rams and such but am having a hard time. I know the stroke needs to be 17.5in or more. Thats what the hfreight ram is and SWAG has proven it works. But every hydro ram I find is rated in PSI not tons. The harbor freight ram is 8 tons, which I know isnt much. So how do I convert that to find a similar specd ram in PSI?

 

[bp71k5]

I use a harbor freight ram on my bender (not a JD2) and while it's not the fastest thing in the world, there's no way anyone would convince me it's easier/faster to bend by hand.

Full hydro setup would be cool though. I wonder if the psi rating on the "air pump" in the HF ram is equivalent to what you need?

 

[blazinzuk]

I have seen benders go faster. But seriously your talking 1 minute to a 90° bend vs 30 seconds.

Unless your doing production welding with stops and many repeatable bends I don't see the need for faster.

But that's me. I don't have bendtech if I had bendtech it might be worth it to go faster.

Oh my bender with a copperhead fab ( how many remember those guys) conversion bends DOM way faster. HREW I can bend just as fast by hand. Unless it's 2"

Now 3/16 or 1/4 wall by hand. That sucks big time. It really stresses the bender but does it just fine. By hand you will problay throw a hammy or something its tough.

Any hydraulic conversion is better than hand bending and not just cause its easier on you