anyone make a homemade tube bending die?

[bmms]

I'm in the process of making a tube bending die, they are so expensive and everyone is making the bender itself but not the die so I am attempting to make my own (die), curious if anyone else has made there own? I'll post pics tomorrow if I have a chance to snap any

[Motorcitydak]

I have a bender that I will be getting a new die for soon. I think that the $300 for a die set is way better than the cost of the tools that I would need to produce my own die. If you can turn em out with good quality for a better price, let me know.

[bmms]

I by all means do not have the proper tooling to make a die like the ones you buy, but I am going to try to fabricate one, here's a pic of one from another forum, this one is not mine but I plan to make something kinda like it

[parsonsj]

My friend Brian Schein made one. It worked perfectly, and I used it to bend the J-bars on II Much. He used a big chunk of aluminum, not sure what alloy.

jp

[Ratfink]

I have made a few, Saved some money, no problems. Enjoy.

[bmms]

I have made a few, Saved some money, no problems. Enjoy.

how bout sum pics? and details

[Ratfink]

I just got a slice of 1010 the diameter of my CLR, threw it in the lathe, cut the radius of the tube in the circumference, bored a hole in the center, cut a slice out on the band saw, surfaced it in the mill, drilled the hole pattern through the top. Welded on a tab and center pivot. Piece of cake!
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/01/Tubedie-1.jpg
I did this one to replicate original headers for an old Harley.

[B Schein]

here is the bender i built about 6 years ago that john is talking about I coped it of the mitler bros bender. made the die on a huge takasawa cnc lathe and did a the milling manual. When I look at pictures of stuff like this it makes me depressed that i dont work in a machein shop any more

[Mathius]

Here's a link on a junkyard build tube bender and die: http://www.thefont.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/bikes/tube_bender.htm

Only works on a certain size tubing though I believe. I never spent a lot of time researching the link because I've never had the necessity to build one.

Mathius