Ercolina super bender 060

MarsFab

MarsFab

Will work for money
Joined
Oct 24, 2007
Location
Harrisburg, NC
Im getting fed up with my pro tools 105 knock-off. The air/hydraulic setup just isn't cutting it. Its slow and it shakes my degree wheel loose which makes it really hard to repeat bends, so im thinking about upgrading to something faster and with a little more repeatability. Do you guys have any experience with any of the ercolina rotary draw benders or any similar. I know a guy who had one a few years ago and loved it but i'd like more input before dropping that much coin.
 
I don't know much about them, other than they make JD2/Pro-tools/etc look like consumer grade toys, and everyone who has them loves them. I've never personally used one, but one day...

I'm quite pleased with my Protools 105 with air/hydro. I wish it was a little faster. Any reason not to just go full hydro since you already have dies and such for the Protools?
 
I really dont like the design of the pro tool/jd2 benders and I'd just like to take it to the next level in productivity. With benders like the ercolina I can later add a fully automated tube positioner which could cut down on job times considerably and cuts out a lot of room for error.
 
I know what you mean about the air/hydro setups bringing the suck, but before you go dropping a load of coin on a whole new bender, did you ever consider going to an electric hydro setup on your existing bender? Check out what I did with my PT105HD; I built the rolling cart out of scrap electronic equipment racks, and built the hydro power pack from a Harbor Freight motor and a second hand hydro pump and log splitter valve. This thing is freaking awesome. It strokes very smooth, and it will do a 90 degree bend in about fifteen seconds. I don't remember how much I have i the whole set up, but it wasn't much since most of it was built from either scrap or second hand parts. The only thing I really regret about it is cheaping out on the casters, before I use it again I'm going to replace them with some much heavier duty ones. I'd also like to add a rack to the under carriage some time to mount different dies to.
awww.supermotors.net_getfile_493150_fullsize_dscn5412.jpg

The back bone of it is 2.5" square tube, 1/4" wall, which turned out to be overkill, but it was what I had laying around. The cylinder is a cheap common farm type tie rod cylinder, 1.5" bore and 24" stroke IIRC. I think you can buy something comparable from Northern for under $100, and probably cheaper from Surplus Center. This setup will allow you to bend about 95 degrees without having to re-pin the die.
awww.supermotors.net_getfile_488702_fullsize_dscn5362.jpg

Built the hydro reservoir from a scrap 6" diameter section of pipe I had laying around.
awww.supermotors.net_getfile_493146_fullsize_dscn5402.jpg

Homemade electric hydro power pack. I put a love-joy connector between the motor and pump to take care of any minor misalignments. See the gauge? I don't think I've ever seen it go over 700 PSI, even bending heavy wall tubing this thing is just loafing along and not even trying hard.
awww.supermotors.net_getfile_493145_fullsize_dscn5399.jpg

The log splitter valve lets you feather the lever to creep very slowly for when you're sneaking up on a degree mark, or move at full speed. It will also auto retract the ram and stop itself when the ram is fully pulled back.
awww.supermotors.net_getfile_493148_fullsize_dscn5411.jpg

And while you're at it, you might as well add a little grinder rack to it and an outlet, which is always handy.
awww.supermotors.net_getfile_493149_fullsize_dscn5416.jpg

And lastly, I threw out that stupid pointer that came stock on this bender and I use this cheap $7 Harbor Fright laser pointer to indicate position on the degree wheel. I wish I could claim that I came up with that idea myself, but I didn't.
awww.supermotors.net_getfile_493147_fullsize_dscn5405.jpg
 
Thanks for the props GubNi, but these days I'm lucky to have time to even use the thing, much less manufacture and sell them. It's amazing how much more time I had back before kids came into my life.
 
amen^^^^
 
I like it. That might just be what I do. It'll definitely be a lot cheaper. Have you ever had any issues with the tube running into the stand when you do multiple plane bends?
 
I can't say that I've had that happen, but I'm sure that I've bent a small fraction of the amount of tube that you have. I'd be happy to let you use it for a week or two if you'd like to try it out before you commit to building one.
 
Back
Top