Old journeyman told me conduit bending by hand is faster than using a bender

Had a conversation with a 30 year vet on a job site last Tuesday. He said I rely too much on the mechanical bender for offsets and saddles. Told me to learn the hand method with a level and tape. I thought he was crazy. But he showed me three 90s in 2 minutes flat. No setup, no hauling a heavy bender up three floors. I tried it myself on Thursday, messed up twice, but the third one was clean. Maybe I was overcomplicating things. Anyone else ditch the big bender for tight spots?

3 comments

3 Comments

blairj5525d ago

Get a good torpedo level and practice your 30 degree kicks against a scrap piece of plywood, it clicks after a dozen tries. Hand bending is definitely quicker once you get the muscle memory down, just keep your bends consistent and don't fight the pipe.

hall.nora25d ago

Are you keeping your tape pulled snug when marking your bend points, @blairj55? I found that was the only thing throwing me off at first. Now I can knock out a saddle in less than a minute on the floor instead of dragging my Chicago bender across the site.

keith26424d ago

That 30 year vet on your site sounds like the same kind of guy I ran into last fall. He watched me haul a bender up two flights of stairs and just shook his head. He showed me how to bend a 90 against a column using my foot and a level, took him maybe 45 seconds. I've been practicing on 3/4 EMT in my garage on weekends ever since. @hall.nora Your tip about the tape being snug is spot on, I was leaving a little slack at first and my marks were all over the place. Now I can do a four point saddle in under two minutes without even thinking about it. Hand bending is just faster for small stuff, no question.