# Ideal conduit benders



## knowshorts (Jan 9, 2009)

I only use the ideals up to 1 1/4".


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## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

I use the cheaper aluminium heads, but I use ideals, and they get the job done.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

knowshorts said:


> I only use the ideals up to 1 1/4".



Ditto.


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## 360max (Jun 10, 2011)

Best benders on the market, easy to use IMO. Personally I would buy no other type.


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## k_buz (Mar 12, 2012)

The heads on my 1/2 and 3/4 always come loose. I've been meaning to put some thread tape on there. Otherwise they bend pipe just fine.


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## dowmace (Jan 16, 2008)

Ideal is the only benders I carry for 1" or less. The new kleins suck and so do the greenlees


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

zwodubber said:


> The boss was feeling generous today and gave me 3 new benders, I'm assuming I'll be getting more pipe work soon...
> 
> How have ideal benders worked for you guys? He gave me 1/2, 3/4 and 1"


Nice...:thumbup:


I like them read the little book that came with them and Keep a copy in your tool bag....


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## erics37 (May 7, 2009)

Every time I use a non-Ideal hand bender for small pipe I get confused.


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## user4818 (Jan 15, 2009)

Ideal makes very good benders. That said, any bender that's set up with the Benfield markings is going to be good. I think all of them, except GB, are Benfield style.


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## Frasbee (Apr 7, 2008)

I like the iron shoes better than the aluminum ones. Good weight, and less likely to warp from being tossed around.


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## nitro71 (Sep 17, 2009)

You're a lucky man! I'm envious of those new benders. Course we have a brand new 555 coming next week. If he'd bought you GB's I'd have advised you to scrap the heads and save the handles.


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

Who the heck would buy a 555 when you could have a 855 for just a little more. Must be someone that's never used a 855 or 854. Freaking crazy.


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## nitro71 (Sep 17, 2009)

sbrn33 said:


> Who the heck would buy a 555 when you could have a 855 for just a little more. Must be someone that's never used a 855 or 854. Freaking crazy.


They didn't ask me to price benders. I just got told we had a new one on the way..


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

I didn't know they even still made a 555.


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## nitro71 (Sep 17, 2009)

I don't care what we get. Gotta love new tools!


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## amptech (Sep 21, 2007)

I have those Ideal benders. I took some white paint on a foam brush and wiped it across the raised markings on the shoe. I let it dry and clear-coated the whole shoe with 3 coats. Makes the marks easier to see in low light(I'm getting old) and hasn't rubbed off in 10 years. I also bought crutch tips for the ends of the handles for bending with the shoe up. Keeps the handle from sliding on the concrete floor. I really like those benders. I bought them about 10 years ago when my Benfield set got stolen off of a job. I like the Ideals just as well.


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## wesleydnunder (Mar 19, 2012)

I still have the Ideal iron-head set I bought when I was in business for myself; 1/2" to 1 1/4". Love 'em.

Mark


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## Big John (May 23, 2010)

nitro71 said:


> I don't care what we get. Gotta love new tools!


 I dunno, if someone handed me new GB benders, I'd ask what I did to make them hate me.

-John


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## Amish Electrician (Jan 2, 2010)

I'd be embarrassed to use those benders.

I mean .... why pay all those $$$ for a pretty blue handle, when you have a shop full of IMC? I've always made my own handles.

I also put a crutch tip on the end- makes it much easier to use the bender 'head up.'


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## Elec-Tech (Oct 10, 2009)

Amish Electrician said:


> I'd be embarrassed to use those benders.
> 
> I mean .... why pay all those $$$ for a pretty blue handle, when you have a shop full of IMC? I've always made my own handles.
> 
> I also put a crutch tip on the end- makes it much easier to use the bender 'head up.'


 


I don't care if they were pink handles...someone else bought em. Those benders with IMC handles don't have the flared ends for me to fix my over bends.


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## Frasbee (Apr 7, 2008)

Elec-Tech said:


> I don't care if they were pink handles...someone else bought em. Those benders with IMC handles don't have the flared ends for me to fix my over bends.


Then you shoulda dun it rite the f1rst time.


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## CanadianBrad (Feb 9, 2012)

We've got a couple of Ideal benders around the shop. Most of our other stuff is Greenlee. I personally prefer the Ideals, even with the aluminium heads. The one I'm curious about is the Rack-a-Tiers bender with the stopper on it. Saw the video on their website, looked kind of interesting. Having been in the trade less than a year, and spending very little time with EMT(only done 4-5 jobs with it), I think the stop foot would be beneficial, since I haven't got all the time and experience in with them yet.

Also, the crutch tips that everyone keeps referring to, where do you get them? Or are they McGyvered setups? The only time I ever put the bender head down was to bend full 90s, I did all my saddles/offsets with the bender upright. And man, is it ever a pain in the ass when the bottom slides out.


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## nitro71 (Sep 17, 2009)

Big John said:


> I dunno, if someone handed me new GB benders, I'd ask what I did to make them hate me.
> 
> -John


This is true. My last GB bender kinks conduit and is only suitable for bending rebar. I'm done with GB.


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## dowmace (Jan 16, 2008)

CanadianBrad said:


> We've got a couple of Ideal benders around the shop. Most of our other stuff is Greenlee. I personally prefer the Ideals, even with the aluminium heads. The one I'm curious about is the Rack-a-Tiers bender with the stopper on it. Saw the video on their website, looked kind of interesting. Having been in the trade less than a year, and spending very little time with EMT(only done 4-5 jobs with it), I think the stop foot would be beneficial, since I haven't got all the time and experience in with them yet.
> 
> Also, the crutch tips that everyone keeps referring to, where do you get them? Or are they McGyvered setups? The only time I ever put the bender head down was to bend full 90s, I did all my saddles/offsets with the bender upright. And man, is it ever a pain in the ass when the bottom slides out.


The racketeers hoppy bender is the biggest piece of crap bender I've ever used. The set stop thing on it isn't accurate and the 8-5/8ths deduct is stupid.


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## nitro71 (Sep 17, 2009)

dowmace said:


> The racketeers hoppy bender is the biggest piece of crap bender I've ever used. The set stop thing on it isn't accurate and the 8-5/8ths deduct is stupid.


"Hoppy bender" the name even sounds dumb.


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## MaxFuse (Oct 23, 2011)

k_buz said:


> The heads on my 1/2 and 3/4 always come loose. I've been meaning to put some thread tape on there. Otherwise they bend pipe just fine.


 Loctite does the trick.Best hand benders IMO.


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## 76nemo (Aug 13, 2008)

When you learn how to bend pipe, a "stopper, or limit" such as the Hoppy is a children toy. Learn from experience and bend in a one shot.


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## dirtyfrank (Jan 25, 2011)

CanadianBrad said:


> We've got a couple of Ideal benders around the shop. Most of our other stuff is Greenlee. I personally prefer the Ideals, even with the aluminium heads. The one I'm curious about is the Rack-a-Tiers bender with the stopper on it. Saw the video on their website, looked kind of interesting. Having been in the trade less than a year, and spending very little time with EMT(only done 4-5 jobs with it), I think the stop foot would be beneficial, since I haven't got all the time and experience in with them yet.
> 
> Also, the crutch tips that everyone keeps referring to, where do you get them? Or are they McGyvered setups? The only time I ever put the bender head down was to bend full 90s, I did all my saddles/offsets with the bender upright. And man, is it ever a pain in the ass when the bottom slides out.


The rack a tiers bender is fine, despite what people say. There is a learning curve to it. If you use their table for figuring out offsets, the angles of bends will be off by maybe 2 or 3 degrees except for the 30 degree offsets (#2 notch), but WHO REALLY CARES? That's going to happen when you change numbers in math haha! It's a good system for bending pipe if you're willing to learn it. If you don't want to, they have the standard degree marks on the other side and if you want to use the traditional multipliers, you can. If the stuff they give you works, why bother though?

I've been using an Ideal bender forever, had zero issues with it and would probably buy another one. It will be to your benefit to learn pipe using the traditional methods with the benfield style shoe, and once you master it, there's really no reason to go and buy another bender, unless of course it breaks or walks away on you haha. That was the only reason I tried the hoppy bender. Change is good. People are gonna say that the stop is for wimps, but the reality of it is that it saves time, and it's consistent. It actually took longer to make the marks on the pipe than it took to bend it. 

Try it for yourself. Most bad reviews are from people either not understanding a product, or from being mislead by false expectations. If you don't like it, sell it.


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## 12-Gauge (Aug 28, 2009)

*Bender Boot*

Also, the crutch tips that everyone keeps referring to, where do you get them? I did all my saddles/offsets with the bender upright. And man, is it ever a pain in the ass when the bottom slides out.[/quote]










Try one of the Bender Boots from Ideal.... goes on like a bicycle grip and keeps the pipe from sliding on concrete floors. Safer and faster, especially for apprentices!:laughing:


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## kaboler (Dec 1, 2010)

Now now about that apprentice thing.

My boss gave me a 1/2 bender, used, but it keeps doglegging my pipe. I asked my journeyman if I just got dumb after the vacation and can't seem to bend anything good anymore, and he said it's been dropped a few times on the nose, and you can't see it.

Need a new 1/2 bender. I have to put all my pipe in the bender at a slight kick just to make it straight.

BTW treat your bender good!! Don't stand it upright and let it get knocked over and fall on its nose.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

kaboler said:


> ............BTW treat your bender good!! Don't stand it upright and let it get knocked over and fall on its nose.


That's a hard lesson to learn, and one I find I need to beat newbies over their heads with the bender handle.

All too often I see guys leaning their bender against a wall, with the handle end toward the floor. One fall to the floor and the bender itself can be permanently screwed up.

I make it a conscience effort to set mine with the head on the floor. If it falls over, the worst that can happen is the paint on the handle get chipped..... which is of no consequence any more as there's very little blue stuff there any more.


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## mattsilkwood (Sep 21, 2008)

I use those same benders, the best there is IMO. 
I dont like using a crutch tip on the end of mine, There are too many times I need to tweak a pipe or put a bend on the end of a wire. Instead just put your leading foot in front of the bender handle and bend away.:thumbsup:


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## Amish Electrician (Jan 2, 2010)

That's right .. I forgot that Ideal had those 'feet' with the benders awhile back as a promotional item ... almost bought another bender just for that!

Ordinary crutch tips are found in the box stores, in the hardware aisle, in various sizes. Match the tip to your pipe.

Using the 'bell' end to correct over-bends? I had not thought of that.

Pink handles? I like that idea ... won't have to worry about lending them out


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## Big John (May 23, 2010)

12-Gauge said:


> Try one of the Bender Boots from Ideal.... goes on like a bicycle grip and keeps the pipe from sliding on concrete floors. Safer and faster, especially for apprentices!:laughing:


Never seen that before. I'd love to have that for doing 1¼ work. Having a bender slide when you've got a lot of ass behind it is no fun.

-John


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## bubb_tubbs (Apr 15, 2012)

12-Gauge said:


> Also, the crutch tips that everyone keeps referring to, where do you get them? I did all my saddles/offsets with the bender upright. And man, is it ever a pain in the ass when the bottom slides out.


 








Try one of the Bender Boots from Ideal.... goes on like a bicycle grip and keeps the pipe from sliding on concrete floors. Safer and faster, especially for apprentices!:laughing:[/QUOTE]

Why not just angle it forward and wedge it against your boot?

It works great for 1/2 and 3/4, not so much for 1" though, since you need both hands and sometimes some weight leverage.


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## CanadianBrad (Feb 9, 2012)

dirtyfrank said:


> The rack a tiers bender is fine, despite what people say. There is a learning curve to it. If you use their table for figuring out offsets, the angles of bends will be off by maybe 2 or 3 degrees except for the 30 degree offsets (#2 notch), but WHO REALLY CARES? That's going to happen when you change numbers in math haha! It's a good system for bending pipe if you're willing to learn it. If you don't want to, they have the standard degree marks on the other side and if you want to use the traditional multipliers, you can. If the stuff they give you works, why bother though?
> 
> I've been using an Ideal bender forever, had zero issues with it and would probably buy another one. It will be to your benefit to learn pipe using the traditional methods with the benfield style shoe, and once you master it, there's really no reason to go and buy another bender, unless of course it breaks or walks away on you haha. That was the only reason I tried the hoppy bender. Change is good. People are gonna say that the stop is for wimps, but the reality of it is that it saves time, and it's consistent. It actually took longer to make the marks on the pipe than it took to bend it.
> 
> Try it for yourself. Most bad reviews are from people either not understanding a product, or from being mislead by false expectations. If you don't like it, sell it.


I might end up giving it a go. My boss was looking pretty hard at them, since some of the guys on our crew suck at bending EMT(I do too, but as the apprentice, I prefer to say "I'm still learning"). However, it's harder to justify, as we do little work with EMT, and it's a perfectly valid point to say that once you learn with a Hoppy Bender, you have to learn all over again with a standard bender.

We had some Ideal benders appear in the shop, with the bender boots on them, and I'm getting the hang of it. I'd still rather run PVC, which I'm more comfortable with, probably because I do way more work with it.


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## bubb_tubbs (Apr 15, 2012)

CanadianBrad said:


> I might end up giving it a go. My boss was looking pretty hard at them, since some of the guys on our crew suck at bending EMT(I do too, but as the apprentice, I prefer to say "I'm still learning"). However, it's harder to justify, as we do little work with EMT, and it's a perfectly valid point to say that once you learn with a Hoppy Bender, you have to learn all over again with a standard bender.
> 
> We had some Ideal benders appear in the shop, with the bender boots on them, and I'm getting the hang of it. I'd still rather run PVC, which I'm more comfortable with, probably because I do way more work with it.


Bending pipe is pretty easy. They either just don't care to really learn or don't have enough experience. Maybe a bit of both.


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## CanadianBrad (Feb 9, 2012)

bubb_tubbs said:


> Bending pipe is pretty easy. They either just don't care to really learn or don't have enough experience. Maybe a bit of both.


Well, we don't run a whole lot of EMT around here. Just about the whole plant is a wash-down area, so it's a whole lot of exposed PVC, and miles and miles of Teck 90. Looks terrible, even when it looks good.

I write off my semi-par pipe-bending skills to inexperience. I understand all the math, but just need some more practice on the bender. The two journeymen I work with are different stories. One of them is a green j-man, less than a year out of school, and has only a little more experience than I do, since he did his entire apprenticeship with our company. The other guy, he's been a journeyman for 25-30 years, and done all kinds of commercial/residential/government work. But he's always in a hurry, trying to get as much done as he can in as short a period of time as he can. I think he's more interested in quantity over quality. And, unfortunately, he's the guy teaching me.

So I hit up the Rack-a-Tiers website, and saw how they bent that basketball net with their Hoppy Bender. I've resolved to try it with a regular Ideal bender, just to get down the consistency of my bends.

It's also a common practice around here to see pipe(of any kind) marked with Sharpie. I did that once, and my boss flew off the handle. So now, I leave my Sharpie in the tool pouch and carry pencils in my pocket. It's interesting how he hasn't said anything to the other guys(that I know of)...


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## bubb_tubbs (Apr 15, 2012)

CanadianBrad said:


> Well, we don't run a whole lot of EMT around here. Just about the whole plant is a wash-down area, so it's a whole lot of exposed PVC, and miles and miles of Teck 90. Looks terrible, even when it looks good.
> 
> I write off my semi-par pipe-bending skills to inexperience. I understand all the math, but just need some more practice on the bender. The two journeymen I work with are different stories. One of them is a green j-man, less than a year out of school, and has only a little more experience than I do, since he did his entire apprenticeship with our company. The other guy, he's been a journeyman for 25-30 years, and done all kinds of commercial/residential/government work. But he's always in a hurry, trying to get as much done as he can in as short a period of time as he can. I think he's more interested in quantity over quality. And, unfortunately, he's the guy teaching me.
> 
> ...


Yeah, the math is only a small part of it, most is practice.

Can't recall a time since trade school I've actually had to use the bender math. Unless I'm starved for degrees of bend or clearance space, I always use 30 degree offsets for easy calculation (double the obstacle height to get the length), match existing bends on a run by eye, and instead of doing ridiculously complicated bends on a single piece of pipe (like in school) I've gotten used to cutting it and jamming a coupling on there for something complicated.

It saves loads of time, which is worth far more than a few couplings here and there with my rate.

Anything other than my standard saddles or offsets gets the iPhone app treatment. :laughing:


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

sbrn33 said:


> I didn't know they even still made a 555.


Sure. I had to buy one a few years ago, because it was the only electric bender I could find with Ocal shoes. 

By the way, to the OP, the Ideal hand benders are top of the line in my book. I have a steel garbage can full of every brand under the sun, but I carry Ideal.


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## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

erics37 said:


> Every time I use a non-Ideal hand bender for small pipe I get confused.


Thats because it just isnt the Ideal bender for the job.


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## CanadianBrad (Feb 9, 2012)

bubb_tubbs said:


> Yeah, the math is only a small part of it, most is practice.
> 
> Can't recall a time since trade school I've actually had to use the bender math. Unless I'm starved for degrees of bend or clearance space, I always use 30 degree offsets for easy calculation (double the obstacle height to get the length), match existing bends on a run by eye, and instead of doing ridiculously complicated bends on a single piece of pipe (like in school) I've gotten used to cutting it and jamming a coupling on there for something complicated.
> 
> ...


And hopefully I'll get to that same point too, where I can just eyeball it, pick up the bender, and go to town. And 30 degrees is our standard offset angle as well, just for simplicity of math. But lots of times we end up running parallel runs of EMT that travel the largest part of their run side-by-side, and then split for the last 6 feet. It always looked funny to me when the offsets aren't matched, or the couplings didn't line up.

As much as I currently hate working with EMT(mostly because I'm a slow, sub-par bender), I always like to do a lot of the pipe work on those jobs just for the practice.

Which iPhone app do you like?


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

CanadianBrad said:


> Which iPhone app do you like?


iBend Offsets for it's simple ease of use for hand benders.
Master Bender, because it has all the tables for the electric and hydraulic benders. 

Both are free. Download them both.


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## bubb_tubbs (Apr 15, 2012)

MDShunk said:


> iBend Offsets for it's simple ease of use for hand benders.
> Master Bender, because it has all the tables for the electric and hydraulic benders.
> 
> Both are free. Download them both.


This.

I use iBendPipe for offsets and Master Bender for rotary and hydraulics.


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## CanadianBrad (Feb 9, 2012)

I've never used an electric or hydraulic bender. Only ever saw one once, at the wholesaler. We're way too small-time for that kind of thing. Could be fun to play with, though. I'll have to check out that iBend, though. Thanks, guys.


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## bubb_tubbs (Apr 15, 2012)

CanadianBrad said:


> I've never used an electric or hydraulic bender. Only ever saw one once, at the wholesaler. We're way too small-time for that kind of thing. Could be fun to play with, though. I'll have to check out that iBend, though. Thanks, guys.












that's the only electric rig I've worked with. We had two of them at Procter and Gamble. Not the exact model - ours had far more conduit shoes on it.


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## CanadianBrad (Feb 9, 2012)

That's the same rig I saw at Eecol. Only $5000 or something like that. My boss questions me too much when I charge stuff like that to the account. Box of wire nuts, no problem. Teck 90 connectors, no biggie. Electric bender, now I'm in trouble.


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## bubb_tubbs (Apr 15, 2012)

CanadianBrad said:


> That's the same rig I saw at Eecol. Only $5000 or something like that. My boss questions me too much when I charge stuff like that to the account. Box of wire nuts, no problem. Teck 90 connectors, no biggie. Electric bender, now I'm in trouble.


Take him out on the town then convince him the next day that he was absolutely adamant that you order one for the job the next time you were at the wholesaler and wouldn't take no for an answer.


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