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I am working with two tubing benders: Imperial 368-FH, and a Pittsburgh model from Harbor Freight (SKU 3755). Both are lever-action and claim to handle 1/4, 3/16, and 5/8 inch tubing. The HFT tool will bend to 180 degrees, and the Imperial tool goes to 90 degrees only.
Both work as expected on 1/4" line. The challenge is with 3/8" line. The HFT tool is causing a slight collapse of the 3/8" tube. It turns out that the HFT tool is marked "6-8-10mm" on the handle. The "3/8" channel is slightly more than 10mm wide and is a loose fit with 3/8" tube. The Imperial tool has a much better fit and maintains the cross-section much better through the bend. If you care about cross-sectional area and flow through the bend - stay away from the HFT bender, and any other bender that mentions "10mm" in the fine print.
Why do I have two benders, you may ask? I have some spots where I need to put the bend very close to the end, and had to butcher a tool to accommodate the flare and flare sleeve which must be done before bending:
image.png
The approach works well in principle, but using the cheapo $10 10mm HFT bender as the platform is a fatal flaw. Time to carve up the pricier Imperial bender and get back to building!
Both work as expected on 1/4" line. The challenge is with 3/8" line. The HFT tool is causing a slight collapse of the 3/8" tube. It turns out that the HFT tool is marked "6-8-10mm" on the handle. The "3/8" channel is slightly more than 10mm wide and is a loose fit with 3/8" tube. The Imperial tool has a much better fit and maintains the cross-section much better through the bend. If you care about cross-sectional area and flow through the bend - stay away from the HFT bender, and any other bender that mentions "10mm" in the fine print.
Why do I have two benders, you may ask? I have some spots where I need to put the bend very close to the end, and had to butcher a tool to accommodate the flare and flare sleeve which must be done before bending:
image.png
The approach works well in principle, but using the cheapo $10 10mm HFT bender as the platform is a fatal flaw. Time to carve up the pricier Imperial bender and get back to building!
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