stillirnin

Are there tricks,short cuts,etc. to bending conduit or laying out the bends to speed up installs ? I just use formulas and measure everything out at the moment.

Bkessler

The more you bend the faster you get. First take your cell phone and leave it in your truck. Then, I find taking my time, double checking all my measurements, never trying to take a shortcut, using a level on the pipe while your bending, making sure there is a cold pepsi near by and learning to work efficiently have in the long run have made my pipe installations faster and neater. You can work fast without rushing. And never ever, ever say, " it looks good from my house".

__________________
When ls lunch

Billy_Bob

Sometimes you can save some steps which save a little time.

Instead of measuring where that last piece goes, then measuring the conduit, marking, then cutting... Sometimes you can hold a piece of conduit up to where it needs to go, place your thumb on the spot where you need to cut, then make a mark with the hacksaw and then saw away.

Or if you need multiple pieces cut the same length, measure and cut the first piece, then use that piece as a measuring tool for the other pieces. (Just be darn sure that first piece is correct!)

stillirnin

I think Im on right track,its that one of the EC workers was in my shop last week and I was running emt to power a heating unit and he was busting my @#$ ! wanting to know why I was doing all the measuring and figuring for offsets but as I remember he had some way around the formulas and if things didnt work he just cut to fit. A few years back I ordered a book from a magazine ,an Ideal bender and some emt memerized the formulas and started practicing .So I was figuring maybe I was taking long way around and he had a better way, although I push myself to do as little cutting as possible....measure twice cut once or not at all.....

John Valdes

Practice makes perfect and increases speed. Sometimes its easier to use more conduit than trying to make difficult bends. For example, you can go up and over instead of going horizontally. If I have a job with all the recepts at the same height, I will bend several stubs that will clear the ceiling in advance. Then just cut or add to connect them together. Same with switch boxes. Sort of prefabing your bends, then dropping them into the connectors, cut and couple.
When you bend as much as possible before you install, the job looks so much better as everything is the same.

Your study of the formulas and remembering them will come in very handy when you are installing many runs at once. Your work will stand out as superior to one that was just fudged.

Bkessler

I heard Mickey Mouse eye balls his pipe when he runs it at disney land. For a bend or two it's ok but not for anything other than a quick offset.

__________________
When ls lunch

nick

Well 1/2 to 6 inch its all the same just differ in deducts and types of benders used , and conduit sizes & types , there is bending and layout the correct way and you will learn that after years of bending , if you bend everyday! but thers one book which i have its the Electricians Guide To Conduit Bending ,Pend Oreille Publications ,the construction book store has it .if your interested in serious conduit bending this is the best book ever . best advise i can give is always use a pencil !!! think about what or where your going take your time put it in one time and dont waste any pipe when you get to that point your on your way . theres no tricks its a art you learn and its part of our trade lots of guys think they know how but dont listen to them just read that book . i use it everyday take care

Joefixit2

My problem lately is I end up with "dog legs". I think it must be because I am rushing too much, since it didn't happen before.
Any one try using a "No Dog" level?

Adam12

A No-Dog is a must for large conduit bending on a machine, not so for hand bending.

Bkessler

Some times it seems like you get a bender that is more prone to dog legs.

__________________
When ls lunch

Bkessler

I always thought the bigger the pipe the easier it is to make look good, when bending on a machine it's real easy to keep that level on the pipe once you trurn the pipe 180 degrees for the second bend. One inch is my favorite to bend with a hand bender and usually looks the best, Like I said earlier, practice, it helped me out a lot when I did nothing but bend 1/2" through 1" for a few years straight. The thing I learned was to slow down take my time and it would all go together faster and more pretty.

__________________
When ls lunch

Adam12

Slowing down is the key especially if your bending exposed conduits.
Rushing through would always screw up my measurements or placement on the bender, I always bend using the center of the bend and try not to use the arrow.

nick

Ya dont see it anymore but the older guys years ago would place the conduit in the bender and make there first bend at what ever angle example say 30 deg. then they would lay it on the floor and place the bender handle parallel with that part of that bent conduit first offset part , then measure from conduit to pipe handle with a tape measure and mark the distance you needed for your offset ,some used the center some used the back of the conduit then they would picked it up put it in the shoe of the bender and looking at the conduit with there eyes rolled it by line of sight so the both ends or offset lined up . but today i see guys using the multiply by 2 for 30 deg - 1.41 for 45 deg. which is good , but the old way it was a faster method . if you had good eyes. most just drop the benders in the bottom of the gang box i see guys just dropping the benders on the floor the shoe gets damaged and it will get out of shape thats part of dog legs , theres a seam on conduit look at a piece before you bend it, its running along the length of each piece of emt do not bend on that seam roll it to the side before you start your first bend cheap conduit is famous for this . oh ya there is good conduit and bad conduit and it makes the difference in bending . bran new nice looking conduit outer flakey shiney skin stuff is cheap!! the dull solid looking pipe is good meaning good wall or bad wall emt conduit , and there is conduit that cant be bent its bad from the factory. comments , take care best to ya

Mountain Electrician

• "measure twice, cut once"
• I try to always use a level when I bend, even w/1/2" that isn't exposed: everything fits better and goes together faster
• wooden folding rule: great for finding angles and recreating them at the bending table, make sure you get one with the numbers running opposite ways on either side
• magnetic protractor, a must for larger rigid pipe bending
• lay out the entire run before you start: braces, straps, fittings, etc. If you just start bending, you may find yourself in a bad spot
• always bend conduit with wire pulling in mind, keep pull points accessible, minimize bends. etc.
• when bending rigid, short 90's will save fittings. EMT has a union with every piece but rigid takes a little more thought in the layout process.

Just a few thoughts off the top of my head. Pipe bending IMO is one of the more enjoyable aspects of electrical work. Practice makes perfect!

John Valdes

I still bend my offsets that way. That was how I was taught on the job many years ago. If I have more than one to make at the same place, then I use the math method.

BDB

Well hell, I guess it is now official, I am an OLDER guy

__________________
Proud Father of a US Army Solider

nick

Hey, BOB JOHN you guys know i mean well when i say old timers , i happen to work for the conduit master the oldman hes 65 years old and can still run me into the ground if he wants ,I learn from him been working together for years now ,and i learn everyday . says he will not retire until i can bend a piece of conduit !!! funny thing is for the last 3 years ive bent all the pipe but i dont say anything just laugh . but he has high standards and still uses the old wooden ruler and has methods that you cant learn unless you bend conduit for 40 years like he has . so i have a lot of respect for you old guys dont be offended by my post it was intended well .take care best to ya

Bkessler

Just to spice things up about seven years ago I started converting all my fractions to three digit decimals when adding and subtraction now thats all I do , does anyone else practice this?

__________________
When ls lunch

dowmace

I do the same thing, it's much easier for me to think through it that way. I just wish they'd put the measurements in that form on a folding rule!

Bkessler

Yeah, I know what you mean. You can get rusty fast.

__________________
When ls lunch