# Milwaukee pipe benders



## catsparky1 (Sep 24, 2013)

So I picked up the Milwaukee pipe benders on Monday . After a week of use well they are pipe benders and they bend pipe . I got the cast iron ones . Happy so far if anyone wants a set of Klown benders they are at the bottom of the Stockton harbor . So far I think the ideal benders are the best and the big reds are the most expensive . 

This is a developing story stay tuned for updates .


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## MotoGP1199 (Aug 11, 2014)

Thanks for the info I didn't even know they made a bender. Cast iron is definitely the way to go. If for some reason I had to buy another bender I was thinking of trying one of the Hoppy Benders that have the stops on them. I can bend fine without them but it sure would make offsets easy if you could just adjust a stop and both bends would be identical without having to check or adjust.


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## catsparky1 (Sep 24, 2013)

One of our guys has the rack-a-tiers with the stops . I make fun of him daily .


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## B-Nabs (Jun 4, 2014)

I like the Greenlee aluminum ones best. Also I like a handle that's straight all the way to the end, no flare. I use the handle to eyeball my offsets against, and the flare makes that method more difficult. 

Sent from my SM-G975W using Tapatalk


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## joebanana (Dec 21, 2010)

I thought this was a post about some midwest plumbers union.(?)


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

All those ones are garbage. Real manly men love GB cause they gots bubble levels in them.


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

Out thar in the warehouse inside one of the 5 gang boxes is a couple of Appleton pipe benders still hanging around not getting used . My son is going to have a heyday when I kick the bucket and he gets all the tools I never use any longer....

I gots welders, coring drills with all the bits, tons of threading tools, enough Greenlee sheaves to fill a whole gang box, A hog threader, A 300, Two porta pony's, three oil cans with the hand pumps. Bunch of stuff. It's sick. I used to have one of those manhole sheaves with the three wheels and ten or twelve foot long, but the old lady made me get rid of that and a ton of other equipments. Oh yea, I had both ends of a reel o matic , sold those to one of the local supply houses. And a high lift.


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

macmikeman said:


> All those ones are garbage. Real manly men love GB cause they gots bubble levels in them.


Have a GB 1/2" hanging in the back of the shop. Its been hanging there for many years. Its was new when someone decided to bend rebar with it. 
The new guys love to grab it and it don't take long before they begin to question the quality of the TW we get.


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

Ignorance is bliss. I use Klown benders. I didn’t know they were bad until you guys told me.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

B-Nabs said:


> I like the Greenlee aluminum ones best. Also I like a handle that's straight all the way to the end, no flare. I use the handle to eyeball my offsets against, and the flare makes that method more difficult.


I recently got a set of Greenlees on Craigslist, I didn't really need them but they were brand new and dirt cheap. I have always used Ideal but these are pretty nice. I have been fooling around with the cone shaped pin on them you can use to eyeball the angle when bending on the floor, it's pretty good.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

MotoGP1199 said:


> Thanks for the info I didn't even know they made a bender. Cast iron is definitely the way to go. If for some reason I had to buy another bender I was thinking of trying one of the Hoppy Benders that have the stops on them. I can bend fine without them but it sure would make offsets easy if you could just adjust a stop and both bends would be identical without having to check or adjust.


I would like to try that. I use a speedset to do the same thing but I am sure the Hoppy bennder would work better.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

macmikeman said:


> All those ones are garbage. Real manly men love GB cause they gots bubble levels in them.


You have to admit that level does speed things up. If the handle was set plumb at 30* instead of 45* I'd probably have to use it more.


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## varmit (Apr 19, 2009)

Hand benders are all about what a person is accustomed to using. Cast iron is better than aluminum (in my opinion), but either can do the job. Years ago most hand benders had the handle vertical at 45 deg. As best that I remember, this changed to 30 degree in the early 80s mostly. 

Many years ago I used Rigid brand EMT benders and they worked well. I have not seen any of this brand bender in forever, but the Rigid web site still lists them as currently available.


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## dronai (Apr 11, 2011)

I have an Ideal !" bender that used to work great, until the conduit metal got cheaper, and started to kink


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

dronai said:


> I have an Ideal !" bender that used to work great, until the conduit metal got cheaper, and started to kink


I know a guy who knows a guy who bends 1/2 with a 3/4 Klown bender and it doesn’t kink.


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## MotoGP1199 (Aug 11, 2014)

I do have to admit. I use this level all the time with my bender. It is super handy. I also like it because I can stick it to small exposed spots on pipe/boxes to see if they are level that my torpedo would not fit onto.


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## dronai (Apr 11, 2011)

99cents said:


> I know a guy who knows a guy who bends 1/2 with a 3/4 Klown bender and it doesn’t kink.


Huh :001_huh:


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## JoeSparky (Mar 25, 2010)

I have no issues with my blue Ideal benders or the yellow Lowe's clearance tags still attached to them :thumbup:


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

JoeSparky said:


> I have no issues with my blue Ideal benders or the yellow Lowe's clearance tags still attached to them :thumbup:


$17 for the 1" and it works like a champ.


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## JoeSparky (Mar 25, 2010)

Wirenuting said:


> $17 for the 1" and it works like a champ.


Just looked at mine. The 1" was $7.50 with a cast iron head :biggrin:


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

JoeSparky said:


> Just looked at mine. The 1" was $7.50 with a cast iron head :biggrin:


But mine was sold by a sexy sales girl at the clearance counter. :vs_cool:


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## five.five-six (Apr 9, 2013)

I’ve Been using my ideal cast iron set for about 30 years. I maybe need to replace the head on my 3/4” I don’t know how long a aluminum 1” would last bending 3/4” GRC.


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## Lone Crapshooter (Nov 8, 2008)

About 5 years ago I bought on ebay a 1/2"and a 3/4" Bendfield cast iron NOS 1960's era benders. One had the original bill of sale in the box I think it was $ 5.50. Use them almost every day at work. I am so old school I always make my own handles .
The only thing I would change is I would would replace the handles with 3/4" SCH 80 pipe. 
They do a fantastic job.

LC


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## bill39 (Sep 4, 2009)

I always preferred the Greenlee Site Rite benders. They don’t depend on the floor being level. 
http://greenlee.ebizcdn.com/0beb34df7e9615cd43b9090989ca4848

If the floor isn’t level then then the little levels being shown in this thread don’t help much with making sure the pipe is bent to a certain angle. Only a protractor can do that.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

bill39 said:


> I always preferred the Greenlee Site Rite benders. They don’t depend on the floor being level.
> http://greenlee.ebizcdn.com/0beb34df7e9615cd43b9090989ca4848
> 
> If the floor isn’t level then then the little levels being shown in this thread don’t help much with making sure the pipe is bent to a certain angle. Only a protractor can do that.


I like that pin but you have to eyeball when it's plumb above the mark, right? The speedset lets you bend without worrying about a level floor, the hoppy basically has the speedset built in.


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

I bought an old 1” bender from a retired sparky and it was great. It had the hinged foot pedal you see on larger benders. Then it got ripped off. I’m still pi$$ed about that.


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## Thirty-eight (Mar 2, 2020)

I got 1/2,3/4, and 1” Milwaukee cast iron benders delivered last weekend and so far I really like them. Only real difference from other brands is a thicker handle and the head isn’t a spin on, it’s secured by heavy duty hardware so the head won’t spin, fan of both and it was time to invest in cast iron also.


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## telsa (May 22, 2015)

splatz said:


> I recently got a set of Greenlees on Craigslist, I didn't really need them but they were brand new and dirt cheap. I have always used Ideal but these are pretty nice. I have been fooling around with the cone shaped pin on them you can use to eyeball the angle when bending on the floor, it's pretty good.


Watch out for the 1" Greenlee one-shot bender in aluminum.

The star for the 'going-away' bend is pointing the WRONG WAY. :crying:

Compare it to the 3/4" and 1/2" Greenlee benders. (840; 841) :surprise:


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## telsa (May 22, 2015)

99cents said:


> I bought an old 1” bender from a retired sparky and it was great. It had the hinged foot pedal you see on larger benders. Then it got ripped off. I’m still pi$$ed about that.


So... you became unhinged? :vs_mad:

I thought so. :biggrin:


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## telsa (May 22, 2015)

I love my 840;841;842....

But I also have customized them by adding notches for the back of a 45 degree bend, etc.

I used fingernail polish -- in red -- to highlight by filed in custom notches. 

( Going-away 45 bends, etc. )

I also highlighted the factory originals. The net effect is tremendous.


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## jameslandry (Mar 19, 2021)

Gardner Bender is one of the first conduit hand benders I’ve used when I started working as an electrician’s apprentice. I found it easy to use because the embossed bend marks for 10°, 22°, 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90° were visible even when I was bending tubes.


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## ZacharyBob (May 3, 2020)

99cents said:


> I bought an old 1” bender from a retired sparky and it was great. It had the hinged foot pedal you see on larger benders. Then it got ripped off. I’m still pi$$ed about that.


Saw your post and got pretty excited, at 140lb I can bend 1 1/4" more easily than I can bend 1" thanks to the foot pedal. Going to have to hunt down a 1" bender with a pedal. 

Normally I have to go get my drill, my impact, some rigid couplings and Flava Flav's bling clock to bend 1".


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## sburton224 (Feb 28, 2013)

Talking about Rack a Tiers Hoppy bender, I see Klein now has the angle stop on their benders now to make hitting the correct degrees easier. Looks like a pretty cool concept. Should make offsets quicker. Best part is noone knows you are using it unlike with the Hoppy bender.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...angle-setter&usg=AOvVaw2lCnmuDwe-Jh3kOpdKbJCy


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## JasonCo (Mar 23, 2015)

Don't get me wrong, I love me some Milwaukee. I'm a big supporter, most of my stuff is red. Hell I even invest in their stock haha, they're killing it. With that said, I have the Milwaukee 1/2, 3/4, 1 benders. They are benders, no different than any other bender. Only thing I dislike about them that isn't a problem with other benders is the fact that the bending head is mounted onto the shaft with two screws. While other benders will use the bender head to screw directly onto the shaft. Anyways, these two screws like to loosen up and I have to tighten them from time to time. Doesn't bother me at all but it is inconvenient to have to deal with. That's pretty much my take on their benders. They act like any other bender with that one drawback. I'd still give them 5/5 though if I had to rate them. If you want to buy Milwaukee, there's no reason not to get the benders, they are great. Also I could easily combat the screw issue by just adding a lock washer, so all is good.


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## Another_fng (May 11, 2021)

catsparky1 said:


> So I picked up the Milwaukee pipe benders on Monday . After a week of use well they are pipe benders and they bend pipe . I got the cast iron ones . Happy so far if anyone wants a set of Klown benders they are at the bottom of the Stockton harbor . So far I think the ideal benders are the best and the big reds are the most expensive .
> 
> This is a developing story stay tuned for updates .


Milwaukee has just blown my mind with their new ideas, and this bender looks great. It's like they hung around people in the trade and asked, "How can this idea, that every company just recycles, be improved?" Go figure! I just returned a Klein bender because it's "6" take-up was only 5 3/4". I just think all the bends would be affected. I've heard good things about iron though. Have you checked the take up? If they think so highly of the accuracy, that they print the take-up into the metal, it better be dead-on.


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## Another_fng (May 11, 2021)

JasonCo said:


> Don't get me wrong, I love me some Milwaukee. I'm a big supporter, most of my stuff is red. Hell I even invest in their stock haha, they're killing it. With that said, I have the Milwaukee 1/2, 3/4, 1 benders. They are benders, no different than any other bender. Only thing I dislike about them that isn't a problem with other benders is the fact that the bending head is mounted onto the shaft with two screws. While other benders will use the bender head to screw directly onto the shaft. Anyways, these two screws like to loosen up and I have to tighten them from time to time. Doesn't bother me at all but it is inconvenient to have to deal with. That's pretty much my take on their benders. They act like any other bender with that one drawback. I'd still give them 5/5 though if I had to rate them. If you want to buy Milwaukee, there's no reason not to get the benders, they are great. Also I could easily combat the screw issue by just adding a lock washer, so all is good.


Yeah, they boast that those two screws prevent the bender from loosening over time... I guess they're not wrong haha Good to know about those, though. 👍👍


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