electrical conduit bending

[lightningbug]

I have been an electrician for about 10 years and just reasently I have been put in a higher position in my company. So this means that it is my responsability to teach younger electricians the trade. The problem that I am running into is that I do not have any set paperwork on how the proper way to bending EMT. If any one has that paperwork it would be a great help<br>

 

[merbas]

Sorry, what sort of paperwork you are looking for?

 

[dclem]

Hey lightningbug,<br>
Visit the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training webpage at njatc.org then click on njatc bookstore. They have an instructor's guide on pipe bending that may be helpful. Also, &quot;Ugly's Pipebending Handbook&quot; is a pocket sized resource you could purchase for your students.

 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Lightningbug,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;excellent resources;Tom henrys conduit bending vidio,Electricians guide to conduit bending(1-800-849-4821),Common sense conduit bending and cable tray techniques,author;james g. simpson.

 

[PENRENER]

GREENLEE (TEXTRON) has an excellent conduit bending book.<br><br>Available through their website.<br><br>Also, in the back of the UGLY'S ELECTRICAL REFERENCES (available from Maintenance Troubleshooting, 273 Polly Drummond Rd. , Newark, Delaware 19711 (PHONE 302-738-0532)...is a nice section pertaining to conduit bending.<br><br>UGLY'S is a book that EVERY ELECTRICIAN should have.<br>You can get a free faxed catalog from the supplier (800-886-0532).<br><br>

 

Bending EMT is fun, the best way to learn is to make mistakes and toss them in the scrap pile, stick with a few basics:&nbsp;&nbsp;30 deg. offsets,&nbsp;&nbsp;bends, and&nbsp;&nbsp;bends with a kick.&nbsp;&nbsp;Bend two pieces and couple them together, instead of trying to bend 1 piece 4 times.&nbsp;&nbsp;I bend 1/2, 3/4&nbsp;&nbsp;with a hand bender easily, Bending&nbsp;&nbsp;1&quot;can take most of my strength.&nbsp;&nbsp;** How hard is it to bend 1-1/4&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp;with a hand bender, any of you know ? ?

 

[PENRENER]

1 1/4 inch EMT is actually about as easy to bend as 1 inch...because you'll use a

 

[PENRENER]

TO CROSS CURRENTS, ET AL:<br><br>1 1/4 inch EMT is actually about as easy to bend as 1 inch...because you'll use a &quot;Jack&quot; bender (invented by Jack Benield, this bender has a 'jack' that is used or extra leverage.&nbsp;&nbsp;And you're right...practice makes a nice scrap pile.&nbsp;&nbsp;Lord knows, when I came up through the trade I sent almost as much to the scrap pile as was hung in the ceiling.<br><br>I had an estimator who figured extra conduit if he knew I was going to be bending it.&nbsp;&nbsp;(Maybe that's why they set me up to foreman so quickly - lol).<br><br>THE VERY BEST BET, though, is to use a hydraulic bender and TWO torpedo levels.&nbsp;&nbsp;For intricate bending, put a connector on one end of the pipe and place a box there...so you can keep your conduit plumb.&nbsp;&nbsp;If you're using GRC, then thread one end and attach an LB condulet.&nbsp;&nbsp;Placing one level on a flat surface of the LB will give you the same effect.&nbsp;&nbsp;You WANT to keep it plumb.&nbsp;&nbsp;Use a protractor to determine the angles. NEVER trust the angle finder on ANY bender...they'll just cause you to send more pipe to the 'pile.'

 

Are there any manuals specifically for a Gardner bender?

 

If you are union then your apprentice (i.e. young sparky) will receive this training in his or her class studies. You sound non-union though. In which case I don't know how to help you. NJATC.org is for union apprentices. The site doesn't divulge any information pertaining to the trade other than basic &quot;Welcome to our site&quot; stuff.

 

[277]

Ideal benders has a great FREE conduit bending booklet, downloadable in pdf format at:

http://www.idealindustries.com.

It's under conduit benders in their product list.

 

[277]

I found another site for conduit bending that may be helpful (full of theory, if your into it... but with a built-in calculator for the dirty work):

http://www.porcupinepress.com/_bending/TheoryAndDrawings.html

 

[277]

A correction to the address for porcupine press:

http://www.porcupinepress.com/_bending/TheoryAndDrawings.htm

(not html and there is an underline (_) before bending that doesn't show up on the post. Also, the post about Ideal automatically inserted my sentence-ending period after .com in the address so hyperlink won't work. Just type both address out.

 

Hey Lightningbug I have a product that would GREATLY help you teach pipe bending......have you ever heard of a pipe bending calculator? It has two little plastic discs....you just dial in the degree of bend you want to (from 10 to 60 degrees) use and it will tell you the exact distance between bends for your offset or saddle. This thing works for any conduit size. It will also tell you the shrink for any bend or conduit size. If you want to know more let me know.

http://www.bendcalc.com

 

Lighteningbug,

IDEAL Industries has a free bender guide (fits in your pocket) and a video training tape (free to training instructors) that they'll send you.

Call them at 1-800-435-0705 and ask for Customer Service.

 

[ProUnion]

1 1/4 emt is easy to bend due to the fact that you will(or atleast should) be using some sort of a clock bender like a greenlee 555. Hydaulic benders have replaced hand benders for anything over 1&quot; for atleast the past 15 years now!
Simply refuse to bend anything over 1&quot; with a hand bender. If your boss does'nt like this...Too Bad!!

 

[GrapeApe]

Utilize your position to stress to your superiors the advantages to joining the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Your current &quot;electricians&quot; could be placed in the program based on their level of experience. They would be given any training necessary to help them to become Journeyman Electricians. You would have a large pool of highly qualified and skilled Electricians to pull from as you need them. Your company would not have to pay for the training of your people it would be handled by the Local Union Hall and the NJATC. You don;t have to provide Health insurance, retirement programs, etc. it is all handled by the IBEW. It is a win win situation. You get qualified people qithout all of the hassles that come with training and Human Resources headaches. Quality electrical installations and repairs require quality Electricians the IBEW is the best way to get them.

 

[jjbbff]

Does anyone have a bending video