My apologies for the late posting of this-my 2 1/2 year old grandson and his Mom drove for 2 days (from Dawson Creek) to surprise me with a Mom’s Day visit…everything got put on hold while we just enjoyed every second of our time together…7 days just flew by at warp speed.

Ok- here we go.  Did not have time to construct this from scratch so I de-constructed my existing “Bender” or Bea  as I call her……To start with, get yourself a vice (no-not wine….)…and install it onto something solid.  Mine is just attached with clamps to my work bench.

Next you will need a 6 inch long chunk of wood-I used a 2×4 cut in half length-wise, to make it 6x2x2….  This is where friends with wood-working skills come in handy….at the same time, rustle up a 6″ piece of plastic PVC pipe, 1″ in diameter. (My wood looks wonky because it was a reject or whatever you call not perfectly square 2x4s…)

 

 

 

Yup-1″…or 152 mm.  Or something close-or not.  While you are at it, get yourself  a couple bolts with wing nuts, about 3 +/-  inches long

 

Drill a hole  through the wood at each end, large enough to fit the bolt through.  Drill through the PVC pipe as well-same spacing.  Then thread the bolt through both and secure with the wing nut.

 

 

 

That’s pretty much all there is folks-tighten or loosen the bolt to adjust to you metal thickness…then practice feeding your cuff plates though and gently bending a little with each push.

 

The secret to all of this is make sure your metal is sufficiently annealed..if you have to force it, will drive you crazy, and not form properly.  Go slow, and play lots- it takes some practice and remember that everything is “fixable”…

 

 

Please feel free to share with anyone wanting this info-and contact me if you have any questions.  In the meantime, I’m back to  my shop, cleaning up the cuffs and trying to decide what next–now comes the magic part ♪♫♪  – The BLING!

 

 

Happy bending!  Not sure how many calories this burns but I’m pretty sure it’s thousands-well, at least 20 …..

Carol