Difference between a Mandrel Tubing bender and a?
 

Ok I posted a question with a very informative bunch of responses, my next question is a Mandrel Tubing bender the same a tubing bender. I'm not talking about a muffler bender but such as a Tube Shark, JD Squared Model 3, Irvan Smith or a Low Buck Tools hyd? If there is a difference what is it? The reason I ask is I thought a mandrel bender needed something to pull the pipe through the die to get the bends? I dont see anything to do that on these.
Thanks,
Mike

Hey Mike,
A "mandrel" bender is so called because it has an insert that is drawn through the tubing as it is bent. This keeps the tubing from collapsing. Unlike the "crush-bent" benders in muffler shops that actually dinkle the pipe to create the bend.
The Pro -Tools/JD Square style of benders do essentially the same thing as a "mandrel" bender but they use external "dies" and the pipe is drawn through those to create the bend. The die style of bender does a good job and at a much lower cost then a mandrel bender.
Mark

It also depends on what kind of tubing you are going to bend. A mild steel might work in the simpler tools. But a strong hard steel or chromemoly tube cant be bent without a mandrel.

Jan

I believe the die that goes in the tubing is called a mandrel

Hey thanks!!!! So a properly designed tubing bender (not a muffler) will bend to make a NHRA/SCCA legal bar/cage setup?

Check out http://www.mittlerbros.com/. Alot of the race teams that build their own chassis use Mitler or Irwin-Smith. I have used Mitler notchers and bender. They are super nice.

tube benders
 

Speedway motors sells a super low dollar bender. Bender & 1 set of dies 399.99. Or complete set of dies & bender for 799.99 check them out at Speedway motors.com.I use pro tools one shot bender & mittler bros. notcher.