rothenberger or hilmor bender?

[kirkgas]

tamz , i would beg to differ on that one as i dont think rothenberger benders are anywhere near as good as record , in fact i think rothy tools are on a par with draper . just my thoughts .

You may be correct Billy. As i said i can't be sure. Record do good stuff but i've never had one of their benders for many years. The Rothy bender is ok but the Hilmour is generally regarded as the best.

If you can afford it, get a stand up machine. Much better bends than any hand bender. Just heavier to carry.
benditnow, conduit and copper pipe bending machine specialists - Home

haha you can take a boy off a site but you cannae take the site out of a boy

 

[kirkgas]

Does anyone use stand up machines anymore or are we a dying breed?

Even your cheapest 2nd hand stand up will do better more accurate bends than any hand bender.

I used to take a 20ft length (you can still get them) of pipe out to the bender. Put half a dozen bends, saddles, and offsets on it and take it in.............couldn't get it in the bloody door!!! so had to cut it, usually into 3. Still looked the dogs when it was up tho.

i remember when i was a boy the guys used to set up a wee book with all the sizes marked down for the pipes you are on about, left hand and right hand houses, excellant way to do a full site, after a wee while the sizes didnt need to be checked in the book, it was a joy to bend up something say cylinder draw off/vent from the top of the cylinder right up into the loft and over the tank, as you say the hardest bit was getting the stuff in the door and up the stairs

 

[gates1979]

Id go for the Hilmors

 

[McGoo]

I have a rothenberger and it always leaves a "V" mark on inside of bend. It is difficult to avoid making creases as well. 'Record' are very good and i can't say anything about the Hilmor as haven't used one.

 

[thomas donovan]

rothenberger benders, pipe slices, box spanners are s##t. don't rate much they do apart from their grips

 

[WHPES]

Hilmor, but not an Ebay knock off.

Just remembered a joke we played on an apprentice a few years ago - gave him a 28mm bending spring and a length of pipe and told him to put a bend in it.

 

[markfxy]

Ive got a set of Rothenburger scissor benders absolute rubbish compared to Hilmor they keep rippling or even kinking the tube, Ive also got Rothenburgeger tube bender maxi these are the dogs wouldn't be without them.

 

[tamz]

gave him a 28mm bending spring and a length of pipe and told him to put a bend in it.

Done that one a few times. Not good for the knees so pull it around something.

When i was serving my time there was a 1 1/4" spring hanging in the yard but i never saw anyone brave enough to use it.

 

[ponchoplumber]

Hi,

In my experience, the Rothenberger benders are tricky for a big 22mm bend as the arms ar closer together and the handles a shade shorter also. I have used Hilmor which are superior in my opinion. I now always use an old set of Record benders, which are exactly the same detail as the Hilmor. They cost me 2quid and are so well used the raised numbers and marks on the formers are worn away and all paint has gone. This 'wearing in' now means every bend is physically easier and perfect each time.

I would definately go for Hilmor

Andy

 

[tipintim]

Ive had a record for 20yrs + and very happy

 

[WHPES]

We also gave another apprentice a hilmor bender and some 1/2" steel pipe and asked him to put a bend in it!

My van is a Defender and a tip I was given long ago is that the jacking holes on the front bumper are exactly the right size to hold some 28mm pipe with a spring inside. You can pull slight bends easily with it.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

funny enough WHEPS my next van will be a defender 110

 

[WHPES]

I had some 1 1/2" copper to bend once - I took it to the car exhaust shop in town and he did it on his exhuast bending rig!

 

[Zorro]

Hilmor ive had mine for 7 years up in this b**ch and still just as good if not better

 

[GQuigley67]

just bought a brand new hilmor the other week still havent used it yet but I prefer the tripod benders to be honest more used to them but obviously they are much dearer and more hastle if your not on site anyhow

 

[kay-jay]

my mate bent the legs on a rothenburger, 'nuff said!
irwin hilmor for me......

KJ

 

[WHPES]

I remember a post on Hilmor benders a few months back. The poster was getting rippling in the pipe, well guess what........

My merchants sold me some imported copper which rippled when I put bends in. Took a length of Yorkshire Tube to bend straight afterwards and no ripples!

 

[SF7]

Hello fellas
I'm in the process of trying to get a Hilmor CM42 over to the states. Then I noticed a Hilmor ratcheting bender that would go to 54mm ! I'm totally stoked. Do any of you guys know where I could get my hands on one of these ?

 

[adam84]

id see what a search engine turns up, if your in the states you probably have easy access to ridgid stuff as well which is more suited to commercial sized stuff, its harder to aquire over here but the quality is better than hilmor as well.

 

[GQuigley67]

i got a fault hilmor bender, went to use it and the pipe and guide didnt fit, seemed the former and the wheel were a couple of mil closer than usual 😛 took it back to B&Q and got it replaced new one works fine though