Fire Wood Processor

[Roadracer_Al]

Not only do I have photos, I have plans.  I'm astounded that I am this organized, I probably built this thing 15 years ago.  :)

There are some things I'd change:

One is the thickness of the vice tab - I bent some .5" solid bar, and it bent the 1/4" tab.  I'd make it 1/2".  It would be a lot tidier bolted onto the bender body.

If you're planning on bending solid bar, the pivot pins need to go up to 5/8".

The other change would be to make the clamping "ear" either bolt or weld onto a lathe-turned inner die -- this particular design required a lot of time cranking a rotab while cutting with a 1/2" ball end mill.  At the time I designed it, I didn't have a lathe which would swing 6", so I used the mill.

I had planned to weld some vise grips to the clamp bar, but never got around to it.

The handle is just a 3/4" pin that slips into the handle carriage welded to 3' of black iron pipe. I discovered that the pipe wasn't stiff enough, so I added a bridge much like what you'd see on the apron of a large brake.







http://www.levelfive.com/BENDER/BenderPlans.zip

With the tools & skills I have now, I would make the pins out of drill rod and ream the holes because as it was built, there is enough play in the drilled holes & hot-rolled pins to allow the roller to get a bit out of track with the inner die, marring the tubing. You have to be careful when you begin the bend that everything is correctly lined up and that you pull on-axis with the bender or it will rub off some wickedly sharp little splinters from the tube. Better pins and better fit would probably resolve this. In fact, there might be a little upgrade in this bender's near future.

Hope that's useful to you.