# Pipe bending test w/interview



## freeagnt54 (Aug 6, 2008)

Can anyone give me an idea of what to expect? Such as the complexity of the bends.


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

freeagnt54 said:


> Can anyone give me an idea of what to expect? Such as the complexity of the bends.


 
Who would know unless they interviewed at the same company.


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## Wireman191 (Aug 28, 2011)

My guess would be an offset, saddle, not just as easy as a 90.


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

freeagnt54 said:


> Can anyone give me an idea of what to expect? Such as the complexity of the bends.


A company i worked for the interview was first then the pipe bending test. they did not tell you about it till the end of the interview.:laughing:

In their shop they had a set up on plywood two 4" boxes 5'-6" apart,one stick of 3/4 EMT 2 ONE HOLE clips and 2 steel box connectors *no couplings*


The bend would be a box offset out of the first box a 3 point saddle around a 2"PVC, a 90 then a box offset into the top box you had one shot at it because the left over pipe is too short.

They would give you the 3/4" pipe bender a pair of 9" side cutters a beater flat head with a pipe reamer on it a tape measure ,a level and two flat head wood screws for the one hole clips ,and a Phillips screw driver so you could cheat and move the boxes.:laughing: 

Each box had 3" #10 Phillips screws in every hole so it was a real bitch to move the boxes He checked to see if all the screws were put back and looked to make sure the pipe was all the way in the connector and that you reamed the pipe. 

After all that he told me 9 out of 10 guys would walk away before they were done never to be seen again..:laughing:


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

mcclary's electrical said:


> Who would know unless they interviewed at the same company.


You don't have a pipe bending test?


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

HARRY304E said:


> You don't have a pipe bending test?


Yeah, mine's way harder than what you just said.


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

mcclary's electrical said:


> Yeah, mine's way harder than what you just said.


He said the test really wasn't about pipe bending.

It was about your character.Are you the type that will except a challenge and stick with it until it is complete?

Or are you the type that is a quitter. :no:


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

HARRY304E said:


> He said the test really wasn't about pipe bending.
> 
> It was about your character.Are you the type that will except a challenge and stick with it until it is complete?
> 
> Or are you the type that is a quitter. :no:


Did you get the job?


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## dronai (Apr 11, 2011)

HARRY304E said:


> A company i worked for the interview was first then the pipe bending test. they did not tell you about it till the end of the interview.:laughing:
> 
> In their shop they had a set up on plywood two 4" boxes 5'-6" apart,one stick of 3/4 EMT 2 ONE HOLE clips and 2 steel box connectors *no couplings*
> 
> ...


 
I would have tried to use the phillips, It would have taken me the same time as trying to run that. I would have been one of the 9 ! :laughing:


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

dronai said:


> I would have tried to use the phillips, It would have taken me the same time as trying to run that. I would have been one of the 9 ! :laughing:


I thought about going to my truck and getting cordless..:laughing:


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

mcclary's electrical said:


> Did you get the job?


Yup that was the last contractor i worked for it was all pipe all the time for 7 years it was the best job i found.:thumbup:


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## freeagnt54 (Aug 6, 2008)

HARRY304E said:


> A company i worked for the interview was first then the pipe bending test. they did not tell you about it till the end of the interview.:laughing:
> 
> In their shop they had a set up on plywood two 4" boxes 5'-6" apart,one stick of 3/4 EMT 2 ONE HOLE clips and 2 steel box connectors *no couplings*
> 
> ...


I think I could do something like that as long as they weren't watching me do it. I don't know about you guys but having someone watch makes it 10 times harder for me.

I think im going to just break down and buy a bender and some pipe.


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

freeagnt54 said:


> I think I could do something like that as long as they weren't watching me do it. I don't know about you guys but having someone watch makes it 10 times harder for me.
> 
> I think im going to just break down and buy a bender and some pipe.


Yeah 100' of 3/4 and practice.:thumbup:

Nope they did not watch and it took me 36 minutes to get it right..:laughing:

The scary part was having only one stick of pipe and no couplings.


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## rdr (Oct 25, 2009)

Why would you not even try to do it? Even if it doesn't come out like a glove you'd have already beaten 9 out of 10 but you wouldn't have even stuck around to know that. That test could be harder just by making it 1/2 inch. The good thing about 1/2 is it's easy to tweak. The bad thing about 1/2 is it's easy to tweak.


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## Frasbee (Apr 7, 2008)

It's EMT. Who gives a f*ck. Make it work.


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## Awg-Dawg (Jan 23, 2007)

Ive never heard of anyone having a pipe bending test on an interview.


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## Bulldog1 (Oct 21, 2011)

rdr said:


> Why would you not even try to do it? Even if it doesn't come out like a glove you'd have already beaten 9 out of 10 but you wouldn't have even stuck around to know that. That test could be harder just by making it 1/2 inch. The good thing about 1/2 is it's easy to tweak. The bad thing about 1/2 is it's easy to tweak.



The EMT they sell now is so cheap you can tweak it by just looking at it.


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## Manbearpig (Dec 15, 2011)

rdr said:


> That test could be harder just by making it 1/2 inch. The good thing about 1/2 is it's easy to tweak. The bad thing about 1/2 is it's easy to tweak.


 
Whenever I buy 1/2" from hte cheap chinese supply it has to be straightened out before it can be bent :no:


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## JohnR (Apr 12, 2010)

Just be glad you didn't have to use a bender like this.


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## Big John (May 23, 2010)

LMAO, we have a couple of that second style. They stay in the pile of useless tools along with the GB benders.

-John


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## freeagnt54 (Aug 6, 2008)

I just picked up a klein 3/4 bender ($45) and 40ft of emt ($4 a stick), I was going to get more but everything was more $ than I expected.


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## B W E (May 1, 2011)

freeagnt54 said:


> I just picked up a klein 3/4 bender ($45) and 40ft of emt ($4 a stick), I was going to get more but everything was more $ than I expected.


Jeez, if I had a guy that was willing to spend his own money to learn by practicing, I'd buy him a set of benders and a few hundred feet of pipe.

Do you like read books, and look stuff up and google stuff that interests you, and find answers to things you're not sure about?


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## freeagnt54 (Aug 6, 2008)

B W E said:


> Jeez, if I had a guy that was willing to spend his own money to learn by practicing, I'd buy him a set of benders and a few hundred feet of pipe.
> 
> Do you like read books, and look stuff up and google stuff that interests you, and find answers to things you're not sure about?


Yeah I have a few books and I learn quite a bit from these forums.


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

B W E said:


> Jeez, if I had a guy that was willing to spend his own money to learn by practicing, I'd buy him a set of benders and a few hundred feet of pipe.


It would be worth every cent as well those are the best guys to train.:thumbup:


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## running dummy (Mar 19, 2009)

JohnR said:


> Just be glad you didn't have to use a bender like this.


I have used that second bender on jobs plenty of times. Sucks because there are no offset marks. I just make my lines on the pipe and keep tweaking the bends until it is where I want it :thumbup:


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

My initial suspicions is that probably 95% of the proprietors of shops who give the "conduit bending" tests to new applicants, could not pass their own test themselves.... Hold on now for a moment or two, all the liars who claim to be "Jack Benfield The Second" , will be by shortly to try refuting me cause they bend everything perfectly perfect each and every time they get near a piece of conduit, and post lots of oversize pictures here to prove it......


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## running dummy (Mar 19, 2009)

macmikeman said:


> My initial suspicions is that probably 95% of the proprietors of shops who give the "conduit bending" tests to new applicants, could not pass their own test themselves.... Hold on now for a moment or two, all the liars who claim to be "Jack Benfield The Second" , will be by shortly to try refuting me cause they bend everything perfectly perfect each and every time they get near a piece of conduit, and post lots of oversize pictures here to prove it......



I'm the second best pipe bender... you guys can argue over first :laughing:


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## rdr (Oct 25, 2009)

running dummy said:


> I'm the second best pipe bender... you guys can argue over first :laughing:


Nice. I'm not even in the top 20 I dare say but I can run circles around a lot of people.


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

Manbearpig said:


> Whenever I buy 1/2" from hte cheap chinese supply it has to be straightened out before it can be bent :no:


 
Awesome avatar, and hilarious episode:thumbsup:


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## Manbearpig (Dec 15, 2011)

mcclary's electrical said:


> Awesome avatar, and hilarious episode:thumbsup:


Right on man. I got the name from doing some big wire pulls with no tugger when the crew could NOT get it done. They put a sticker on my hardhat and that was that. On hard hat jobs I get A LOT of funny looks.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

I worked new construction in schools and bent a slew of pipe for years. Now I have not bent and significant amount of pipe in 27 years, doesn’t break my heart.


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