# Segmented bends on 855?



## Huntxtrm (Apr 3, 2012)

Trying to get smooth segmented bends out of my 855 on 2" grc. Hook bites into conduit, bad. Are segmented bends not possible on an 855? Are there any explanations as to how it should be done on an 855? Min bend spacing, math etc...


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## Black Dog (Oct 16, 2011)

Huntxtrm said:


> Trying to get smooth segmented bends out of my 855 on 2" grc. Hook bites into conduit, bad. Are segmented bends not possible on an 855? Are there any explanations as to how it should be done on an 855? Min bend spacing, math etc...


It should be possable, but I really don't you can avoid the bites, make sure you're using the right shoe..


What type of bends are you making?


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## Huntxtrm (Apr 3, 2012)

It's the right shoe. Just trying to get away from makin those bite marks. Looks bad to me.


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## Huntxtrm (Apr 3, 2012)

Black Dog said:


> It should be possable, but I really don't you can avoid the bites, make sure you're using the right shoe..
> 
> 
> What type of bends are you making?


Segmented bends, concentric bends of conduit, to be exact.


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## ponyboy (Nov 18, 2012)

Try adjusting the squeeze. I've never done segs on our 855 but I use it every day and sometimes the squeeze needs tweaking especially on the 2" shoe. And on top of that segmented 90s always look like shít if you stare at it too long


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## mollydog (Jan 9, 2009)

*segment bend / multipliers*

Check the shoe like the other poster said (sorry didn't catch the name) if your kinking the shoe may have gotten damaged, or your not using the right one because theres a lot of different kinds, its been a heck of a long time since using one but the last I can think of is spacing. Also pressure is crucial. Can I ask why you don't just rent a hydraulic or Chicago? or even buy pre mades, they come large and small sweep as you probably know, Im just curious. Money maybe? Like I said its been yrs since I dropped the tool belt for an office in enforcement but there are sooooo many times I wanna go back to installs! bigtime....... I cant because of knee and hip problems. 90s shouldn't be a problem, 45's the multiplier is 1.40 and a 30 degree is x 2 for distance apart. But double check instead of trusting an old fart like me! Let me know how ya make out. Jim:thumbsup:


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## mollydog (Jan 9, 2009)

*to pony boy*

man, I love your honesty ------- lmfao:laughing:


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## 360max (Jun 10, 2011)

ponyboy said:


> *Try adjusting the squeeze*. I've never done segs on our 855 but I use it every day and sometimes the squeeze needs tweaking especially on the 2" shoe. And on top of that segmented 90s always look like shít if you stare at it too long


...there is no squeeze adjustment for bending grc :whistling2:


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## Huntxtrm (Apr 3, 2012)

I've been using this bender for a while. All the shoes are good, etc...... I work with primarily GRC. I try to make all my concentrics nice and even spacing all the way around the bend, all my couplings line up, yadayadayada. Yes, I'm one of those guys. I just like it to look good. And, I make my guys do the same. I just can figure out this dang 855 for short segmented bends. It works great for making tank rings and such. but when I have to make a little longer radius, than what the shoe is actually designed for, the hook puts nasty marks on my pipe. Worse on the 2" and 1-1/2" than the others. I'm probably going to get me another one-shot, if I can't figure this out. I don't have one anymore, probably a good idea anyway. I just wish I could get it done with this HIGH DOLLAR 855. LOL


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## Jhellwig (Jun 18, 2014)

Make sure the hook isn't bent. Every 555 I have ever use would leave a little mark but nothing bad. They leave worse marks when the rollers don't roll. 

Are you sure it's rigid and not imc? I have had seams crush on imc several times if you didn't load it right.

You can mess up the hooks on the shoes. We have an emt shoe at work that makes a slight offset to the side and a small dent in the 3/4 hole. The old guys can make it work. I made one bend and then went back to using the hand bender.


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## ponyboy (Nov 18, 2012)

360max said:


> ...there is no squeeze adjustment for bending grc :whistling2:


Um what? There is an overall squeeze adjustment on the quad in general. It does not matter what size. C'mon man


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## Black Dog (Oct 16, 2011)

ponyboy said:


> Um what? There is an overall squeeze adjustment on the quad in general. It does not matter what size. C'mon man


He's messing with you..:laughing:


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## bill39 (Sep 4, 2009)

What radius and how many shots (degrees) per 90 are you doing?

the more bends per 90 the smoother it will be.


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

Slip a little yellow 77 on the conduit. Helps it slide in the shoe. I have to adjust the squeeze on mine all the time for 2'' emt.


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## ponyboy (Nov 18, 2012)

Black Dog said:


> He's messing with you..:laughing:


Oh oops haha


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## Huntxtrm (Apr 3, 2012)

bill39 said:


> What radius and how many shots (degrees) per 90 are you doing?
> 
> the more bends per 90 the smoother it will be.


Last one was about 22 inches 6-1/2" spacing at 18 degrees 5 bends. On 2" GRC. I've tried shorter spacing, less degrees, more bends. Still marks from the hook. I understand more bends=smoother radius. It's not the flats I'm seeing, it's bite marks from the hook. I usually use a lot of bends for a smoother radius, but I dropped them to try and get away from the bite marks.


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

I always thought that the pipe gets a little egged and the shoe bits into the sides of it. 
Are you getting bites on the back or the sides?
If it's the back it could be squeezing it front to back. 
Something has to give. Somewhere.

I might have to take a short call and work in a muffler shop just to learn the tricks of their trade.


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## Phatstax (Feb 16, 2014)

I have worked with a few "smart" benders in the past, and I don't like them. I prefer the simplicity of a triple nickel and the 881. I like to be able to bump the shoe to get an exact degree to allow for spring back. On the few smart benders I used it seemed I lost the ability to control the bend. Maybe you should consider selling your new style bender for what you can and go back to the old school. On a side note, how do your bends look going 18 degrees at a time? Kinda octagonal, maybe? I was taught by the older brothers to go no more than six degrees at a time for smoother looking sweeps, but I don't know what your situation is that may require 18's. Good luck, hope you find and correct your issue.


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## ponyboy (Nov 18, 2012)

Phatstax said:


> I have worked with a few "smart" benders in the past, and I don't like them. I prefer the simplicity of a triple nickel and the 881. I like to be able to bump the shoe to get an exact degree to allow for spring back. On the few smart benders I used it seemed I lost the ability to control the bend. Maybe you should consider selling your new style bender for what you can and go back to the old school. On a side note, how do your bends look going 18 degrees at a time? Kinda octagonal, maybe? I was taught by the older brothers to go no more than six degrees at a time for smoother looking sweeps, but I don't know what your situation is that may require 18's. Good luck, hope you find and correct your issue.


I've got a 555 and a 855 quad. I'd hands down take the quad any day of the week. I like the fact it's got 1/2-2" EMT and GRC capacity without changing shoes. The pendant has a jog feature that let's you adjust about 1/3° at a time. Spring back is calculated into the bender and if you take the time to fine tune each size you will never have to worry about it again, just enter in your angle and let it go. 

It was hard for me to get used to power benders. I used an 1818 for a long time and I had that thing dialed in to the nuts. I liked being able to feel the pressure on the pipe too it was basically old school jogging. But it's hard to deny the efficiency of powered benders when you're on a big job


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## Phatstax (Feb 16, 2014)

Agreed, Chicago benders are fun to use, I like the simplicity. They also give you a good workout if your doing a lot of bending each day. Maybe I just need someone to teach me the finer points of the smart benders. Around here there is too much push for production to spend much time learning while your earning. Some of the bigger shops want to send measurements to the shop for big pipe bends and then deliver them onsite because our labor pool had been so diluted with "cheap labor" and the bone piles I've seen recently are comical, and sad at the same time. And my BA wonders why I choose to travel sometimes. Jeez....


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## Jhellwig (Jun 18, 2014)

Have you been able to make the bends recently on this bender without hook denting it? Maybe the shoe or hook is getting worn out.


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## piperunner (Aug 22, 2009)

Well a 855 is not designed for segment sweeps its a one shot shoe yes if it has a hook its not designed for segment bending get the right tool for the job. You may get a half ass minor sweep looking bend but you will never be able to match it over and over .

Get a segment shoe and a bender that was made for it.Segment shoes don't have a hook on the shoe . 

Any dents its the conduit cheap junk 90 % of the time


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## Huntxtrm (Apr 3, 2012)

Phatstax said:


> I have worked with a few "smart" benders in the past, and I don't like them. I prefer the simplicity of a triple nickel and the 881. I like to be able to bump the shoe to get an exact degree to allow for spring back. On the few smart benders I used it seemed I lost the ability to control the bend. Maybe you should consider selling your new style bender for what you can and go back to the old school. On a side note, how do your bends look going 18 degrees at a time? Kinda octagonal, maybe? I was taught by the older brothers to go no more than six degrees at a time for smoother looking sweeps, but I don't know what your situation is that may require 18's. Good luck, hope you find and correct your issue.


You can bump a smart bender, but 555 is easier to maneuver around. I am looking for another one, this one will stay at the shop. And I usually bend around 5 degrees. Just experimenting trying to get rid of the bite marks.


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## piperunner (Aug 22, 2009)

Well as I said you cant bend segments bends with what your using .

If your benders is denting the conduit try rolling the seam line on the conduit towards the inside of the shoe . That will fix it 90 % of the time .

If that doesn't work get a better grade of EMT that's not cheap conduit .
conduit is 90 % of the problem trust me .

One more hint if your conduit is old or has been in a supply yard on a stack meaning the last or bottom of a major pipe storage pile a long time or its dropped by a lull or its been or has a slight egg to it .
It will kink dent and give you ripples in the 90 % bends on 881 ,555 any bender . Its not the bender its the pipe . You cant see the egg but if you put a coupling on it look close its egged .

How do I know this well trust me my company bends conduit by the master bundles everyday so we get to see this all the time on a regular basis.:thumbup:


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## kub (May 27, 2009)

We're doing segmented bends in school right now , we were taught max spacing is 4" and 6 degree bend max. Doubt it matters pertaining to your problem.


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## Huntxtrm (Apr 3, 2012)

kub said:


> We're doing segmented bends in school right now , we were taught max spacing is 4" and 6 degree bend max. Doubt it matters pertaining to your problem.


What type of bender are you using? Hydraulic? Or Electric?


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## kub (May 27, 2009)

Huntxtrm said:


> What type of bender are you using? Hydraulic? Or Electric?


That is just for push through bending in general haven't bent one up yet


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## dronai (Apr 11, 2011)

What is push through bending ?


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## bill39 (Sep 4, 2009)

dronai said:


> What is push through bending ?


It's when you make all marks on the pipe before bending it.

For a 4-point saddle you'd make the first bend, push pipe thru bender to the 2nd, 3rd, & 4th mark, etc.


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## dronai (Apr 11, 2011)

bill39 said:


> It's when you make all marks on the pipe before bending it.
> 
> For a 4-point saddle you'd make the first bend, push pipe thru bender to the 2nd, 3rd, & 4th mark, etc.


But the guy was asking him if its an electric or hydraulic bender and his answer was that ? You would still have to bend it with one or the other


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## kub (May 27, 2009)

dronai said:


> But the guy was asking him if its an electric or hydraulic bender and his answer was that ? You would still have to bend it with one or the other


Doesn't matter which I suppose. We weren't actually bending pipe just doing the calculations and our book says no more than 4" between shots and no more than 6 degrees also shoot for an odd number of shots


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## melrub480v (Apr 25, 2021)

Huntxtrm said:


> Trying to get smooth segmented bends out of my 855 on 2" grc. Hook bites into conduit, bad. Are segmented bends not possible on an 855? Are there any explanations as to how it should be done on an 855? Min bend spacing, math etc...


You need to make at least 30 bends at 3 degrees to make it look smooth and it doesn't bite into the conduit so much. It'll still bite into but not as much.


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## Slay301 (Apr 23, 2018)

I’ve had this happen before take a grinder and smooth out the end of the hook and if that doesn’t work bending in the next shoe size up helps too. 855 are a pita


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