# Gardner Bender B1000 Portable cyclone bender, pretty neat.



## Easy (Oct 18, 2017)

According to the Home Depot add it attaches to almost any pipe threader and it's only $1500.


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

Easy said:


> According to the Home Depot add it attaches to almost any pipe threader and it's only $1500.


Thats way less money than a Chicago bender


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## HertzHound (Jan 22, 2019)

That’s a nice setup! Now if they could make a 1-1/4” & 1-1/2” EMT shoe group for it it would be even better. Even if it has to be a separate model. But it would be nice if the shoes were swappable. Their mechanical sidewinder doesn’t use follow bars for 1-1/4” & 1-1/2” EMT. If they could do that to this one, that would be awesome. Add a 2” EMT shoe and follow bar for this price, and it would be sure to sell like crazy.


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## gpop (May 14, 2018)

Seem like a great idea but if your using your own pony motor im wondering if access to the trigger is going to cause a problem.


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

MotoGP1199 said:


> This might be a gardner bender product I will buy. Basically you attach any pony threader to it and it will bend 1/2", 3/4", 1" EMT, Rigid, IMC, and 1/2", 3/4" PVC coated rigid all with the same shoe. I am seriously thinking about trying it out as I can use it with my Milwaukee M18 pipe threader. It only weighs 35 LBS without the threader and takes up very little space. You can bend with it upright or on the side.
> 
> View attachment 152320
> 
> View attachment 152321



GB has been making very good electrical benders for a very long time now.


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## VELOCI3 (Aug 15, 2019)

I wish I had that on my latest job with a ton of 3/4 rigid. I couldn’t get the B2000 bender cause it was tied up. 


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## MotoGP1199 (Aug 11, 2014)

I ordered one this morning for $1440. Shows a 12 day lead time on a drop ship. I hope it works well with the M18 threader.


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## Switched (Dec 23, 2012)

MotoGP1199 said:


> I ordered one this morning for $1440. Shows a 12 day lead time on a drop ship. I hope it works well with the M18 threader.


How do you like the threader?


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## MotoGP1199 (Aug 11, 2014)

Switched said:


> How do you like the threader?


Love it. Working as one man using it for 3/4 and 1" I can use it all day on one battery. It works well on everything I've used it on up to 2". I also use it with the cheaper Toledo Pipe dies.


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## varmit (Apr 19, 2009)

MotoGP1199 said:


> I ordered one this morning for $1440. Shows a 12 day lead time on a drop ship. I hope it works well with the M18 threader.


Let me know how this works for you. 

It would seem the it would take a little time to sort out when to stop the pony motor to avoid overshoot. Most ponies tend to 
coast for a bit after the trigger is released.


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## Rob-Bryant (May 24, 2016)

MotoGP1199 said:


> Love it. Working as one man using it for 3/4 and 1" I can use it all day on one battery. It works well on everything I've used it on up to 2". I also use it with the cheaper Toledo Pipe dies.


GB has been pushing this one a lot. I think they expected it to take off a lot faster than it did. I haven't gotten an order or sold one yet, but it's good to hear positive feedback from the field.


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## Lone Crapshooter (Nov 8, 2008)

Looks like a good idea. the only thing that bothers me is that soft plastic rear roller. When I worked in Freeport TX all of the contractors used Enerpac benders with the soft plastic rear roller. Never did see a Enerpac bender that would bend accurately


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## TGGT (Oct 28, 2012)

varmit said:


> Let me know how this works for you.
> 
> It would seem the it would take a little time to sort out when to stop the pony motor to avoid overshoot. Most ponies tend to
> coast for a bit after the trigger is released.


I like to stop short and bump the last few degrees, especially when using a digital level. 

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## MotoGP1199 (Aug 11, 2014)

Rob-Bryant said:


> GB has been pushing this one a lot. I think they expected it to take off a lot faster than it did. I haven't gotten an order or sold one yet, but it's good to hear positive feedback from the field.


My response was my review for Milwaukee M18 pipe threader. I just ordered the GB bender and am waiting for it to come.


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## Rob-Bryant (May 24, 2016)

MotoGP1199 said:


> My response was my review for Milwaukee M18 pipe threader. I just ordered the GB bender and am waiting for it to come.


Oh ok, I misunderstood. Keep us posted on how the B1000 works out, I'd love the feedback. thanks!


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## MotoGP1199 (Aug 11, 2014)

First Thoughts.

So I received the B1000 bender. I ended up canceling my original order and buying the bender with the threader. I had a coupon from zoro so I got the bender with the threader for $1610. For the few hundred extra I figured it was worth it to not have to switch my threader between the two all day long and if I want to use the M18 threader I can. I just did a couple of test bends with the GB threader that came with it and it works great. I didn't want to get my M18 out as it is under a bunch stuff in the van.

I tested it on a small scrap piece of 1" RMC and 3/4" RMC. It bent a 90* in 1" RMC easily and accurately, the 1" I was using had 5* spring back. I had a piece of 3/4" RMC that had a small offset near the end. I bent a 90* stub up at 22" and it was less than 1/8" off. I then bent a back to back 90* and it was almost perfect. On the 3/4" RMC it had 4* spring back. I set the spring back on the first 90* I bent by adjusting the dial on the bender face to -4* and then bent to the 90* mark, luckily my guess of 4* was correct. I then bent the 90* back to back bend and stopped at 90*(having not touched the dial that was set to -4*) and both 90*'s were square with each other.

It's a couple of weeks until I have a job were I will be using it at. But this is going to save sooooo much time. I set up the bender on a Rubbermaid folding table and it was nice not having to bend over to bend and align marks. My back will be thanking me for this purchase, especially with 1" RMC. Couple of things about the bender that could be better. The threader fits kind of loose on the bender when you place it facing up. Not a big deal it just feels weird. The threader sits on the ground(or table) and stays in place fine. The other thing is you have to manually change direction of the threader on the trigger/switch to remove your conduit and then do it again to bend the conduit. It only takes a couple of seconds and not much a big deal and will still be faster than hand bending. The threader that comes with it does have a trigger lock so you can lock the trigger and use the handheld controller to control speed when you get close to the bend mark. 

I have a feeling this will be going to all jobs with more than a couple of bends. It weighs about 54lbs for the bender and threader.


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## mofos be cray (Nov 14, 2016)

@MotoGP1199 i dig your tag line.


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## Rob-Bryant (May 24, 2016)

MotoGP1199 said:


> First Thoughts.


Nice review, good to hear it works well. If you're ok with it, I can forward your review to the powers that be at GB. I'm sure they would like the feedback and maybe they could look into your few concerns on the tool.


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## MotoGP1199 (Aug 11, 2014)

Rob-Bryant said:


> Nice review, good to hear it works well. If you're ok with it, I can forward your review to the powers that be at GB. I'm sure they would like the feedback and maybe they could look into your few concerns on the tool.


Sure you can. After I put it through the paces I will give a follow up.


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## MotoGP1199 (Aug 11, 2014)

Recent update: @Rob-Bryant

NOTE: I have only bent 1/2", 3/4", and 1" Rigid. No EMT yet.

OK, I have used the bender on a few jobs now and really like it. The bends come out great and once you get used to it it saves a bunch of time. I really like that I can put a little tension on the conduit and adjust the conduit while its loaded in the bender to get my bends plump/square with each other with no dog legs (similar to larger benders). Its also nice that you can make bends on conduit that have a short tail that would you would not have the leverage to bend without adding an extension to the conduit or having the conduit slip on the floor.

The Bad: The trigger that comes with the kit to control the bender has a very very tiny wire that is about the diameter of a cell phone charger cord (not a joke). I know this cord is going to get damaged in time. I would like to see something much thicker and more durable. If a wrench falls on this wire it will be destroyed. The other issue is the threader must have some cheap parts inside the trigger as now I can just switch the forward and reverse switch without touching the trigger and lock. This actually works in my favor as it is easier to operate and less cumbersome, however I know it is not supposed to do that with out pulling the trigger to release the lock and then allowing you to change direction(forward/reverse). If everything else holds up I am very happy with this "fail"?? I wish the stand to bender sheet metel were a little more sturdy. If you have pipe in the bender and move it a little to adjust for dog-legs the bender will wobble at the joint from the bender to the supplied stand due to flex of the thin metal. I may beef this up somehow at some point.

I mounted the threader to the bender with some washers to keep it in place. (After I did this I found they have directions for this in the manual. However I used a cut piece of 3/4" sch 40 pvc as a spacer for the top mount instead of the set screw lock collar they recommend to buy. The PVC will never move and loose adjustment. It fits tight with no wiggle.) I also mounted the bender to some scrap 3/4" plywood and added some wood braces that allow the platform to slide vertically into my rolling cart. The plywood sits on top of my cart and makes contact with 3 sides of the cart. The wood braces do not touch the inside work platform of the cart but merely keep the bender from being able to tip over. Since they don't contact the inside work surface there is no wobble form the platform. I can have a full 10' stick of 1" RMC in the bender and the platform/bender will stay put and not tip over with nothing bolted to my cart. Having the bender mounted on the car helps with my back and gives extra space for follow up bends without hitting the ground.


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

MotoGP1199 said:


>



The guy on the right racking against the power bender, has he never bent pipe before?


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## Rob-Bryant (May 24, 2016)

MotoGP1199 said:


> Recent update: @Rob-Bryant
> 
> NOTE: I have only bent 1/2", 3/4", and 1" Rigid. No EMT yet.
> 
> ...


Great review, thanks for the feedback. I'll forward it to GB. I could definitely see that wire being an issue, and I haven't looked it up, but I'm sure they replacement pendant controller isn't cheap. It's almost like they want things to fail. we repair a LOT of the full size B2000 Cyclones. They use a bushing on the tensioner rather than a bearing. I can't tell you how many times the bushing wears and the metal filings short out the board. We have told them for a long long time to replace it with a bearing, which they finally just did. It's almost like it's built to fail...and a board replacement repair runs about $1500 bucks. 
Thanks again for the update, and nice set up you have there. I'll think about putting one in stock...or maybe wait for my first request from a customer. But now I feel better recommending it if someone is looking for maybe one of the small Chicago type benders (Greenlee 1800), this seems like a better choice.


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## Rob-Bryant (May 24, 2016)

five.five-six said:


> The guy on the right racking against the power bender, has he never bent pipe before?


😂 😂 😂
Reminds me of when you see those infomercials where they show the black and white clip of someone doing something the "stupid" way without their product!


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## MotoGP1199 (Aug 11, 2014)

five.five-six said:


> The guy on the right racking against the power bender, has he never bent pipe before?


It sure does. His body angle and legs are in the complete wrong position for any leverage. At one point it looks like his body is in a better position to kick the 1 1/4" bender away from him than it is to bend the conduit.



Rob-Bryant said:


> Great review, thanks for the feedback. I'll forward it to GB. I could definitely see that wire being an issue, and I haven't looked it up, but I'm sure they replacement pendant controller isn't cheap. It's almost like they want things to fail. we repair a LOT of the full size B2000 Cyclones. They use a bushing on the tensioner rather than a bearing. I can't tell you how many times the bushing wears and the metal filings short out the board. We have told them for a long long time to replace it with a bearing, which they finally just did. It's almost like it's built to fail...and a board replacement repair runs about $1500 bucks.
> Thanks again for the update, and nice set up you have there. I'll think about putting one in stock...or maybe wait for my first request from a customer. But now I feel better recommending it if someone is looking for maybe one of the small Chicago type benders (Greenlee 1800), this seems like a better choice.


I agree a few things look like they are designed to fail. The main bender portion seems solid. I'm going to figure out some way to protect the pendant wire and maybe wrap the pendant cable and control box (where it plugs into the power cord) with something to give it some type of physical protection. The cord on the pendant has what looks like a 3.5mm jack. I definitely like it better than a chicago bender. Doing different angles and adjusting for spring back is easy.


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## mofos be cray (Nov 14, 2016)

MotoGP1199 said:


> I'm going to figure out some way to protect the pendant wire and maybe wrap the pendant cable and control box (where it plugs into the power cord) with something to give it some type of physical protection.


Wire loom might be pretty good in that application. Looks like a sweet little unit all in all. And even it fails a bit prematurely a guy might be able to build the cost of replacement into a couple medium sized jobs pretty easy.


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## Going_Commando (Oct 1, 2011)

Rob-Bryant said:


> Great review, thanks for the feedback. I'll forward it to GB. I could definitely see that wire being an issue, and I haven't looked it up, but I'm sure they replacement pendant controller isn't cheap. It's almost like they want things to fail. we repair a LOT of the full size B2000 Cyclones. They use a bushing on the tensioner rather than a bearing. I can't tell you how many times the bushing wears and the metal filings short out the board. We have told them for a long long time to replace it with a bearing, which they finally just did. It's almost like it's built to fail...and a board replacement repair runs about $1500 bucks.
> Thanks again for the update, and nice set up you have there. I'll think about putting one in stock...or maybe wait for my first request from a customer. But now I feel better recommending it if someone is looking for maybe one of the small Chicago type benders (Greenlee 1800), this seems like a better choice.


Interesting. We just bought a used B2000 a few weeks ago. I'll have to check that bushing.


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## Rob-Bryant (May 24, 2016)

Going_Commando said:


> Interesting. We just bought a used B2000 a few weeks ago. I'll have to check that bushing.


It's fine if it's the bushing type, but just make sure whoever is using it stops once you hear that tensioner squealing. It's a much cheaper repair to replace the tensioner than the board. We have customers who just keep on using it, then once the board burns out, they say "yeah, the thing has been screaming for 3 days!" well, why the hell did you keep using it!😂


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## Cpro48609 (Mar 4, 2021)

We got one also and it's been pretty nice so far! We are an IT company and run a lot of cable (low voltage only). It's a back saver on 1" pipe.


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