Well after a fair bit of work and messing arround I've got my tube bender producing some respectable results in 2" tube.
Here's my first couple of attempts with the new setup. The hoop on the right is the first test bend I did. The one on the left is the final product.
The bends are turning out nice with very little distortion and only a slight crimp at the start of the bend. These are 2" polished 304 stainless with a 3mm wall. These are fresh pout of the bender and covered in greasy finger prints but it does come up nice with a good polish.
The only issue I have is getting the bend radius tight enough. The die is a 165mm Center Line Radius. I theory It should make a hoop that's 330mm between centers but the spring back in the material means the hoop ends up at 345mm between centers. I made some mods to the die which produces a nicer bend but I can't seem to get it any tighter than that.
I put this tube bender setup together for my own enjoyment as I like making stuff myself. However to try and recover some of the cost of the dies and equipment I can offer roll hoops at a competitive price.
How does a bare 2" x 3mm wall 304 stainless hoop at 345mm centers for $180 sound? or 2 for $350.
Drop me a PM if you are interested.
Cheers
Michael