Harbor Freight Tubing Roller

[monte55]

Virtually every tube roller of that nature (that costs several times more) says right on their info that it will not do a circle.
I'm not saying they won't just passing on what they say.
As far as the flat spot goes you simply tug the tube outside of the machine and roll it past aways (farther than the flat spot x 2) and then cut it on both ends, re-align them, and weld them together.
Wait untill you read their directions!! They are horrible. They contradict themselves and are just plain FOS on the capability. Which causes people to try to do things that just plain out is not gonna happen.
This machine is for long radius bends...like 10 foot radius's...not 10 inches like they say in the "manual"
I am sitting with the "manual" in front of me and it says you can bend:

1" tube on a 5" radius
1 1/2" tube on a 7 1/2" radius
2" tube on a 10" radius

They lay this on you right after telling you that you cannot bend tube larger than 1 1/4"

They also tell you the rollers are 4" in diameter which is the smallest diameter you can make with this tool.

If this were possible everyone would sell their benders and run to Harbor Freight because this would be the end-all of all benders ever made were this capability possible. Literally a "pipe dream"

Now using it in the realm of realizing it is a low dollar version of this sort of machine it offers a good value for what you pay and in capable hands could turn out some decent work... altho not perfect or identical without MUCH practice.

Now you tell us!! On your "value judgement" of this tool I went early to HF today and purchased it with the square die set. Just kidding. Anyone that thinks this this unit could make such small circles has limited knowledge of these tools. I'm just opening mine and setting it up. If the dies are any good at all it should be worth the price. Making a roller die is a real task for anyone even with decent equipment.

[monte55]

OK........got mine setup and on my work table.
Opinions........they should have marked the 2" dies as 2", not 1" as mine are
(no big deal)
The castings have a few imperfections but then again(no big deal)
Worth the money....I have to say yes because the dies are included. I've yet to roll anything.
Comparing this to Eastmans roller is not fair. Eastmans have solid steel rollers,
not cast and then machined.
Eastmans also drives with the two bottom rollers which are linked together via chain and not a single top roller. This should work as long as the operator uses smaller steps while rolling. The four small cap screws holding the top should be indication not to apply too much pressure per pass plus the top roller holder is cast which could break if too much pressure is applied per pass.

Time has passed.......
I just opened the 1/2" square set of dies(3) to use on this roller. They are heavy. Cost $50.........one could open them up if they have a lathe to larger sizes which I probably will.
Worth the cost ........YES........
More later.........Nick

[Sonora Iron]

capable hands could turn out some decent work... altho not perfect or identical without MUCH practice.

You mean there is more to it than:
D X 3.1416

[monte55]

I love pie

[Sonora Iron]

Me too, chocolate cream, coconut cream, pecan, and cherry!

[monte55]

Have you considered Fur

[Sonora Iron]

Have you considered Fur

[FusionKing]

Have you considered Fur

MY FAVORITE of the hot ones

[Sonora Iron]

Wonder how much more it would have cost to cut key ways in the shaft for the wheel and top die?

[backsix]

Most things at HF are not worth the gas to haul home. The tubing roller is a notable exception. Is it comparable to a $1000+ roller? No, but it's hard to ignore for small jobs or hobby fabrication.

Wait for a sale @ $149. Sign up for emails and they'll start to send you 20% off coupons all the time. If you're patient you can take this home for $119

Just a die for my $2400 JD2 model 4 runs $300(which is a bender NOT a roller)

I also bought the HF $49 square tube dies(CNC 4140, not cast) & used my lathe to enlarge for 1" square tubing. Worked great. Bent a 24" diameter circle in 11 Ga(.12) It took time & was a workout but successfull.