If you don’t like bend offsets (like if you’re used to another machine), just buy one of our bend location gauges (click HERE – new window), it allows you to tape measure from bend start to any place on the tubing you want. Putting bends where you want them accurately is the foundation of accurate tube work. The bend will start at exactly 10 inches from the end of the tube. This line you just drew is where you line up the tube with the clamp block in the machine (“MARK TUBE HERE” in above image).
Now draw a line that is 5 1/4″ closer to the end of the tube from your first line (5 1/4 is the bend offset from the table below). If you want to make a bend on a 4.5 radius die, and you want that bend to be 10 inches from the end of a piece of tube, mark a line on the tube 10 inches from the end. The bend offset is the distance between the start of the bend and where you line up the tube in the machine. The Rogue Fabrication bender has a fixed bend offset for every radius of die. In bending 101, you will learn how to put a bend where you want it, based on where the bend starts, and how to bend the right amount.
Bending Tube with a Rogue Model 600 Bender, 101: The basics
