A bender is one of those tools that you never think you need that much, but once you have one, it becomes the most handy cord hanger in the shop. I did recently spend about $200 on materials and 8+ hours of my life building a bender to avoid paying $350 for a new one, but the two bends I used it for were totally worth it.
Dear Mr. Tony, Sir! I am normally not wont to comment on videos from worldwide celebrities with more than a million viewers, however, you have played such an important role in my recent post-surgery recovery that I have no choice but to express my heartfelt gratitude. Six weeks ago I had a titanium knee installed into my left leg (I had to have it done locally after Stefan refused to do it, and Adam didn't even respond!) and the only way I survived six weeks in a rehab clinic was to watch all of the videos you have published in the last 9 years. I am 80 years old and a retired research scientist, secretly disappointed that I did not become a machinist/tool maker, and your videos helped heal me, both physically and psychologically. One slightly sad side effect was the fact that the nurse who regularly came into my room to bring me pills and good news stopped speaking with me when, for the fifteenth time she saw me sitting mesmerized in front of my laptop watching a pair of hands waving about. It was a small price to pay. Please accept my gratitude for your endless efforts to entertain and educate and for allowing me to join you in your garage. Greetings to you and your son from central Germany.
@@herzogsbuick Thank you kindly! I am back home and went for a long walk with my wife and our 3-year old German Shepherd Dog. I'm feeling very grateful.
Hey Tony, one thing about your videos that I've *always* appreciated... your attention to volume equalization/normalization (not sure which is the correct term here). It's super annoying to constantly have to fiddle with the volume while watching a TH-cam video because parts of it wake up the neighborhood while other parts are too quiet even at max volume. Your videos are always volume-constant from start to finish... no fiddling required. Regardless of what method you're using, you're doing it right, and it's much appreciated by your viewers.
i agree. anohter youtuber i pointed this out on was mentourpilot. he does his own ad work as well so there is no jump cut to high volumed ad playback. its all clam, cool, balanced, and calming. youtubers that put this extra effort in really should get a higher % of ad revenue for a thankyou.
Yeah, about that... we can see in about the first minute of the video that he has an upper body. A torso. A beer belly with a shirt. I don't know what to think... next time you'll tell me he has legs and (God forbid) a face...
A tip: if you put a UV filter on your lens, it can be sacrificed for the accumulation of angle grinder dust in place of your lens. $15 instead of $500.
They also make clear filters! I use them when I do ‘extreme’ photography experiments. Eg 16x16 tea light stop motion animation. The accumulated soot and wax on that thing afterwards made me never skimp on protective filters again!
Rule of thumb with tripods is that if it didn't cost at least 10% of what the equipment it's holding up cost, you're doing it wrong. Can only drop that $4000 camera once on the concrete shop floor :)
Oh, I think it's been demonstrated that it's possible to drop a $400 camera MANY times on the concrete shop floor. It may have stopped working after the first time or two...
@@griffintaylor3861 there are certain laws that feel related. Like random distribution of light is rather even, because the 'particles' near an orifice "remember" the last beam's trajectory. Wave slit experiment. It just knoooooooows.
@@griffintaylor3861 The best ones are when they fall on the floor and you saw exactly where they fell but they somehow fell through a wormhole into another dimension.
@@griffintaylor3861 Well, things are even worse in ToT's garage. With all of the time traveling lathes and such. Wormholes and other various relativity bending gravity wells are as common as metal chips in ToT's garage!
I remember that Stefan said when you buy a Chinese tool you are buying a project. The "positive" stop on the other bender looked like an add-on plate, maybe a project you could do after the surface gauge?
Had a similar one of these about 20 years ago from Princess Auto in Winnipeg. The machining of the fixed jaw was not square and made all the bends twisted on flat bar. Took it back to exchange it and found all their stock manufactured exactly the same. Got my money back. Never looked back.
Ending reminds me of my escapades with the shop class bender. I learned about work hardening of aluminum, shear strength, and gravity all in one convenient package 9.8m/s feels a lot faster when it takes you by surprise. Shop floors with odd blocks lying around also make cheap chiropractors.
Benchtop bender has a certain ring to it!!! Oooh the after delivery cleanup, I just can't help myself deburring metal and plastic castings, especially handles when you get that sharp lip that irritates, the hanging thread even The chinesium PCBs with slightly ragged edges that cut like razor blades - just a couple of scrapes with a file .... Swapping the steel screws for stainless, a drop of grease and refixing the rubber grip to stop the edge curling. All part of the pleasure of getting new stuff. When I got married my wife caught me using the un-glazed ring you get on the bottom of cups to gently smooth the corner of my ring that was digging in (also good for final polishing the edge of a sharp knife!).
If you think about it the right/left threaded adjustment is probably correct, you just have to account for it being upside down when manufactured.🌏🏯⛩🉐️
I've gone through all the various audio issues and settled on my own pre-amp as I couldn't trust my little Canon mirror-less. I'm totally with you on the separate audio track. It seems like a minor roadblock on paper, but is super annoying in practice.
Get PluralEyes. You chuck in all your footage and audio and it'll sync it up and spit out a timeline with replaced audio that you import into your editing package.
As a professional audio engineer -- your audio is absolutely fine. Honestly, I never even noticed your audio. Like, I notice there's audio, but -- you know what I mean. I don't find myself rewinding because something was garbled or the gain was fucked up. Keep doing it your way. No need to have one extra thing to worry about in the moment, let alone later.
Was gonna comment that you could use a Zoom or something similar as an external mic for the camera while recording so the audio would be burned into the same file, but this is a much more valid point. Never noticed it either and that means it works. Especially since I also study music technology and do mixing and producing so I'm usually aware if there are any major problems in audio. Never on your channel so as Jay Straw said: Keep doing it your way.
Having used cheap tripods for photography for years, I understand your situation. Eventually, I decided to get some professional tripods. What a difference. No more heart-check moments when you notice your camera/lens combo doing a back flip when you thought it was locked down. Keep up the good work!
I have a come-along that has an aluminum tube handle, as I recall from the instruction sheet it's a deliberate weak point so the handle will bend if whatever you're lifting/pulling is beyond the rated capacity. I'd suspect they went with a tube handle on this bender for similar reasons, the handle will bend before you break one of the cast parts.
It's not often that I notice camera changes before they're pointed out, but *holy shit* ! Not just the crispness, but the steel table now looks like steel and not like sepia-toned* steel... I mean the old color palette had its charm, but this is a pretty big improvement *to be clear, I never noticed the off-color table before, so it's not that bad, just in retrospect the color change is so clear I could tell from memory
12:52 the battery drill manufacturers want you to stand your tool on the battery, so it will tip over, fall on the floor and have the spindle bent. This is why they stand so nicely on their batteries. I've seen this happen three times at work. Spare yourself this experience, lay your Milwaukee on its side.
I worked in a shop where theyd yell at us if we stood our drills on the batteries. Not for fear of breaking the drill, but because it was an aluminum shop, and they could do some serious damage to the product. Everywhere ive worked ever since, people think im weird for always laying my drills on their sides.
I've dropped my M12 tools ~40 feet from a tree onto rocks and ~8 feet from a ladder onto concrete... Every battery which experienced such a fall has at least one of the retaining clips broken. Fortunately the tools are much sturdier than the batteries and they are still fully functional with nothing more than a couple of scuffs in the plastic.
Good tip about checking the pivot point, I need to do that to mine as soon as I get the chance. I have always wondered why I constantly have to adjust the moving jaw so that it does not lock up. Also, for anyone buying something like this: Do not expect the mounting hole pattern to be square and symmetrical. I had mine accidentally turned 90° when I marked the holes and thought "a, doesn't matter, it's a square". Spoiler: It was not a square, and I had to "move" two of the holes.
Indeed, my bending die was also completely not on center, but contrary to Tony's mine was way too thin. That had the benfit that I did not have to machine ist and just could shim it out with some flat stock. But now it works way better.
Love the video, just a couple of things. I rewound like you said four times, but you never moved the camera. Second, I think the angle was measured in metric, that might be why it was a wonky value. Last, I always found taking videos with a still photo camera was weird. Yeah you can change lenses and stuff.... and you get great quality... but it is expensive! I tried taking video on my Pentax K1000. A 36 exposure roll runs out in a couple of seconds. Let's not talk about developing costs! I will stick with my video camera for videos... if I can find some mini dvds.
The small details in your videos are so good. The very subtle music as you were machining the angled piece. Just bravo. Always makes my day when you upload. Thank you. 😊
Man, I didn't know I needed this until you posted it. I've spent so much time doom scrolling and watching depressing news, but this was a sorely needed treat! I genuinely love your content. The auto focus at the end got me good to. Cheers.
This man sense of humor and camera work is amazing. I had a teacher once tell me if you could make someone laugh while they’re learning they’re 10x more likely to remember it. I be learning a lot. Salud compadre 🍻
The urge to fix is a powerful master. Have a JD2 pipe bender and ring roller but missing a bar bender and just get terrible results from MAP heating and hammering. Fantastic insight into the likley manufacturing shortcuts and how to remedy them. The universal bender rabbit hole becons me. SBG-40 ? This summers hanging basket frames will be the best ever. A pleasure to watch.
Thanks Tony ✌ for your 3 year old video on sine bars. Figured I would comment here on your most recent video. Hoping you would be a bit more likely to read it. Great practical uses for the dreaded trigonometry. 😅 I was a math nut as a youth. Took intro to Algebra in summer school between 8th grade and freshman HS. ... Algebra I in freshman. Plane and Solid Geometry the following summer school. Then Algebra II Trig in Sophmore year. Sophomore year was awesome because there were 5 varsity Senior cheerleaders in the class. My instructor asked me to personally mentor that clutch of ding ding beauties so they could pass the class. Best class ever 💕 Made friends with all but one of them. But on the down side the varsity football jocks caught wind of me and went on vendetta against me. 🤕 The ladies stepped in and read them the riot act. Thus saving me from a few black eyes 🤣🤣🤣🤣 That was over 45 years ago and I still love math for what it gave me as a young man 😄 Moral of the story : Math can be dangerous ... Yet wonderful 🤣🤣🤣
I LOVE watching your videos. They're somehow like a hilarious yet informative stand-up sketch show, and the subtleness of some of your jokes is spot on 😂
Great video Tony. It made me laugh when the bolt fell into the cam-hole. That stuff happens to me all the time! Have you considered duct tape and pool noodle bumpers for the cameras on tall tripods? Another idea is to tether the top of the tripod to a cleat or other overhead structure. take up the slack in the length of the leash, so if you bump the tripod, it won't tip over. I've seen it done and it's super effective if you have the overhead supports.
Hey BT.. just wanted to say thanks. Been watching you for years, suddenly, after watching your vid one night, i finally bothered my arse to level up my lathe. I had nooo idea a cast iron bed could twist so far.. After almost 2 years it took less than 30 min's to get a virtual zero along a 15 x 330mm drill rod. I thought my ways were more out than that. So i tested it with a 19 x 60mm tight clearance fit... s**t the bed - sub 2 mics with a 12mm steel boring bar. Un*******believable. 'Til that moment I was in boring taper hell, you da man To' - live long, cheers 🍻
Thanks vm T and sorry - Two 10ths, not 2 mics. I was excited, I forgot a 10ths dti was.. imperial. Decimal imperial? Anyway, loved the new short it was an eye opener for me. Made an mt2 collet block tonight, one that works. No biggie(sniff), I'm taking my new found accuracy in my stride... ... WOO-HOOOOOOOO! 😀
I feel your camera pain, Tony. I've dropped two $800 cameras right on their face (also attached to a tall tripod) within the last 2 years. The first one didn't survive, and the second one now has glitches and requires a kung fu death grip to adjust the focus/exposure ring.
Better than knocking an $800 laser tape measure off of a parapet wall coping onto a parking lot below, deciding now is a good time to upgrade to the $1200 bluetooth version, and then end up chasing it down a steep shingle roof a couple months later. In hindsight, you then reflect on how your instinct was valuing expensive equipment over your own life, and utlimately concluding it was a fair trade. Because there's no way you're shelling out another $1200 for a 2nd one.
Can't say I've ever been disappointed or annoyed by the audio in your videos, and while the pre-amp version does sound slightly 'cleaner' it's definitely not enough of an improvement to justify all the extra work. The environment you're recording in seems to make much more difference, and you're always smart about when you record and how you treat audio when recording operating machines. Overall, do whatever you feel is easiest, because if it's what you've been doing previously, it already sounds great. Thanks for all your work, always love seeing a TOT video pop up on my subscriptions list!
Proof that you make it real. 99% of "will it run?" vids end in joy but that kinda makes many of them the same. Movement, compression, carbs, ignition. I'm happier that we're going to see how to fix the broken plugs and whatever is seizing that thing. First, take time to get the back less bad👍
We switched to Davinci Resolve a couple of years ago for our channel from adobe. We are really happy and the free version of Davinci does almost everything you would want. We eventually upgraded to get faster render speed. Anyway. Love your channel and recommend Davinci. It's worth the relearning time.
It also does syncing. I bought the full version just for the insane features, but it's a one time purchase for $300 (got the speed editor and full resolve came with it), but all future versions are basically free upgrade. Never going to touch any adobe after this.
Well, TOT, proves what I always thought - you're two steps from going around the bend. Keep up the good (and entertaining) work.Just don't go pasta 90°.
Dear Tony, I missed your videos a lot. They're the most entertaining moments I have. I thought you were on a war break. But then when you came back it did surprise me that you didn't mention the situation. I love your videos because of the genuine humanness of you and your family and the way you describe these relations. And the humor, which is the best nonsense can be. And of course professionalism, knowledge and ingenuity, but these alone are far from the full ToT experience. So I thought - probably ToT's giving respect to Ukraine right now, and that why there r no vids at the moment. Would love to hear your 2 pence on the situation, even if it's the most simple and basic empathy. Cheers and thanks for everything you give us 💛
thanks raayonaim! yes releasing a video did feel awkward. but talking about it (in the context of the foolishness in this video) didn't feel right either. certainly deserves a discussion. Its hard to believe this is even a thing in 2022.
@@ThisOldTony Dear ToT, thx so much for replying. I'm excited to first in my life talk to you, I've been watching your videos for 3 years now. I totally understand that it was out of context to speak about it in the vid, you're absolutely right. It's really depressing that it's still a thing in 2022, but so are so many atrocities... Unfortunately progress in tech doesn't go hand in hand w moral advancements. Anyways, in my view your channel actually does have a moral standpoint, even though that's not the subject-matter. Perhaps that's why I'm so tightly following. I feel that your ethics are of enjoying skills, knowledge and making, of laughing together, of community, and of appreciation of the wisdom of previous generations and others. Thx so much for all of the pleasurable hours I've spent in your garage :) Best to you and your family, and late condolences as well.
This year is already saved. Regardless what happens with russia or covid or whatever…this old Tony uploads regulary again it has to be good! Greetings from germany
Lumix sure does pack a lot of photo and video quality in their camera's. I've got the S1 and though the autofocus is 50% of the reason I have trust issues with my cameras (The other 50% being the first roll I shot on my hassie coming back blank from the lab), I'm otherwise very happy with the overall quality.
I've bought all rigid drills, tools, everything. Not one has failed me. It's been 10 years since my first drill. The impacts, shop vacs, everything is still choochin. Plus a life time warranty.
I have a smaller version of that bender, and I stand at the other side of the machine. I pull the long lever towards me with my right hand. If you look at your lever, you can see it a few degrees offset from the workpiece, which makes sure that your lever is ahead, and your hand is clear of the work.
I want a D500, I have a D850 and an 810. The 850 has been just a treat for the last few years. If it’s the camera I keep forever l, that’s fine with me.
Aahhh, good ole’ Wisconsin! I was born and raised here! I bet the Uber driver had no idea of the amount of celebrity they were chauffeuring about! But then again with never seeing your face in a single video only the voice would tell you and AvE apart! The secret is the beer, cheese and brats make us a hardy bunch when dealing with the cold. Hope you partook in those lavish indulgences! Great video as always!
I would advise using a smaller aperture (Aka a higher F number) in some situations your depth of field is so small that it's hard to understand the dimension and scale of a piece of metal :D
Get a brake drum from a 30 ton or larger truck. Open side down, cut 3/4 in inch scallops out of the edge so you have 3 legs. Weld a pole to the top. Tada! Super heavy tripod that won't tip!
Have one for a few years now and for the money it's a good buy. Yes same issues with the alignment and jaws. I have a different handle though. Nice review Mr Tony.
Great camera choice. You might consider Davinci Resolce for editing. There is a free version that is extremely useful, and it isn't as hard as it appears to use. Nothing needs improvement in your outstanding video work, just the option of saving time in production.
As a production professional with over 25 years in the industry, I have to say your videos have been wonderful to watch. Even my kids look forward to watching them. If you're in the market for a great camera at a relatively reasonable price I would suggest the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 4k because it's not only great quality, but you get a full DaVinci Resolve license included. The best part is you don't have to pay a yearly fee or for upgrades. Keep up the great work!
at the beginning i was wondering why the creepy voice from the ether was suddenly sounding different. and then it was confirmed seconds later! Thanks for confirming I am not crazy, creepy voice from the ether and disembodied hands!
Tony a time traveler as yourself should of recognized they sent you the non-Euclidian model. That’s why it was making higher dimensional non-planar bends the camera couldn’t pickup. To fix the handle you should bend it in the bender for some high quality bendseption.
Tony, you can easily automatically synchronise entire folders of video and audio with software called PluralEyes. You chuck in all your video and audio, it syncs it up, and then it spits out a timeline file you import into Premiere or Premiere Elements, assuming Elements does that. It's invaluable.
Please do not use separate audio! That "warm and familiar studio host"-voice was... not suitable for the "We get to hang out with Tony in the workshop" vibes. And I'm usually super picky about audio because I have some pretty high end head phones. But it was just totally off. The slightly echoy sound with a wee tad of white noise fits perfectly with the mental image of being somewhere with concrete floors and steel surfaces.
What an awesome video For the audio problem solving and not bothering with syncing it with video, I'd recommend a camera mounted microphone. A few examples would be: Rode VideoMicro and Movo VXR10. Wish you all the best as always!
I have a bender very like this one. must have been made by same people,20 years + ago, but adjuster is the bolt type. your handle is horrible and weak, mine is about 3" x 1/2" flat bar. I have mounted mine on the wall on a horizontal hinge at rear base from 2 farm gate eyes with a length threaded bar between the 2 eyes forming a very strong hinge, and 2 small 2"horizontal hinges 1 on front bottom edge of bender with telescoping tube attatched to support when in use and the other hinge on bottom of tube bolted the ground , and this allows bender to drop flush against the wall in my small workshop when not in use. so it dose not use up any bench space, then i just grab handle that allways falls towards the ground when not in use, and lift bender till its level for use and push a spring clip in telescoping tube holes to keep it in place, it works for me
Regarding the audio: I actually much prefer the camera audio in this video to the bit that you did with the separate recorder. Might just be an EQ and levels thing. So, fixable. But also, I'm pretty sure I heard a weird whine in the background of the separate recorder section.
As a Swede I do appreciate the 40mm sound! I mean, if it would be something like 6385,25/755885 inch or 74 gauge…or I don’t know…65 seconds sound…I would be all confused and would have to convert the sound into mm…And then I would have to sync a separate sound file. Thank you for all your hard work and consideration!
I recommend you put a bit of high pressure grease on your dies and stock and see how it affects the shape / sharpness / springback of your bends. Short story long: Many moons ago, I picked up a Hossfeld #2 bender - what appears to be their educational package plus some extra dies - for around $1000 at an auction (the kind of bidding war you don't give up because *you know you want it*). While I did pretty alright (probably $5k worth of dies on top of the bender, and the optional stand), every piece was covered in what must have been a quarter inch thick powdercoat, Alanis-Morissette-ironically your blue color rather than the OEM gray. While this should have ruined the bender (I mean, a thick layer of soft material exactly where cast iron is supposed to be plowing into material you paid good money for), I found that a slathering in axle grease on the stock and the dies makes it work quite well. Controlled slippage is allegedly part of die design (presumably the clearance part of the design, I dunno how much they planned for the coefficient of friction of paint). Oh, and a dedicated pedestal is definitely worth investing in. I have a 6 foot cheater bar on my bender and I can do 180 degree bends, so long as I don't park a car in the garage. I wish I was clever enough to tap threads in my 1/2" cold roll welding table (another auction find) when I put a vise on the corner, but maybe it's best that I put flange nuts on the bottom instead of breaking a tap off in my table... the holes in my vise were 1/2" or 5/8" - lots of WD-40 for coolant and a battery swap was required.
Glad to see you back. Wisconsin is actually a sampling of Canada that just happens to be in the US. It's pretty miserable cold. But they got lots of sausage, cheese and beer!
A bender is one of those tools that you never think you need that much, but once you have one, it becomes the most handy cord hanger in the shop. I did recently spend about $200 on materials and 8+ hours of my life building a bender to avoid paying $350 for a new one, but the two bends I used it for were totally worth it.
Oooh, this hits close to home lol!
You're a man after my own heart lol! That's exactly what I do!
So funny! I have a Harbor Freight bender in my shop and the handle is draped with extension cords. It’s been like that for years. 😀
$150 tax-free for 8 hours of work, that's nothing to sneeze at
@@Finwolven True, it’s probably 10x more than my money saving projects yield.
The auto-focus on the broken lens glass was the absolute cherry on top of a great video
I lol'ed
Yes
It’s the little touches like that auto-focus that keeps me coming back. The man is an actual genius.
I missed that!! Thank you
It certainly got me!
Dear Mr. Tony, Sir! I am normally not wont to comment on videos from worldwide celebrities with more than a million viewers, however, you have played such an important role in my recent post-surgery recovery that I have no choice but to express my heartfelt gratitude. Six weeks ago I had a titanium knee installed into my left leg (I had to have it done locally after Stefan refused to do it, and Adam didn't even respond!) and the only way I survived six weeks in a rehab clinic was to watch all of the videos you have published in the last 9 years. I am 80 years old and a retired research scientist, secretly disappointed that I did not become a machinist/tool maker, and your videos helped heal me, both physically and psychologically.
One slightly sad side effect was the fact that the nurse who regularly came into my room to bring me pills and good news stopped speaking with me when, for the fifteenth time she saw me sitting mesmerized in front of my laptop watching a pair of hands waving about. It was a small price to pay. Please accept my gratitude for your endless efforts to entertain and educate and for allowing me to join you in your garage. Greetings to you and your son from central Germany.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
what a sweet comment!!! I hope you get well soon, and even at 80, you can still invest time in what makes you happy.
👍hope you get well soon !
@@herzogsbuick Thank you kindly! I am back home and went for a long walk with my wife and our 3-year old German Shepherd Dog. I'm feeling very grateful.
@@Darkenrall1 Thank you very much. I'm going great and am very grateful for the time I have left.
haha there must be something in the air, i knocked my camera done the tunnel hole, cam survived but lense did not.......was an expensive few seconds
Gravity is a harsh mistress.
Better the lense than you :)
@@alexmeakins that's your theory!
But more importantly, how did the footage look?
Ah, bummer! Make a Safety harness for the camera to match your safety tie?
Hey Tony, one thing about your videos that I've *always* appreciated... your attention to volume equalization/normalization (not sure which is the correct term here). It's super annoying to constantly have to fiddle with the volume while watching a TH-cam video because parts of it wake up the neighborhood while other parts are too quiet even at max volume. Your videos are always volume-constant from start to finish... no fiddling required.
Regardless of what method you're using, you're doing it right, and it's much appreciated by your viewers.
It's normalisation, and yeah, I have to agree. Some channels have their audio levels all over the shop; makes it very annoying to watch.
That is the worst! Especially with headphones.
i agree. anohter youtuber i pointed this out on was mentourpilot. he does his own ad work as well so there is no jump cut to high volumed ad playback. its all clam, cool, balanced, and calming. youtubers that put this extra effort in really should get a higher % of ad revenue for a thankyou.
I wish Peter Brown would do this
Totally seconded!!! 😁😁😁
When the world is ending, this is what we all needed, thank God he's still got his hands
Hands aren't even required for those who are mechanically/technically inclined these days, just ask Ian Davis :P
I say thank God (or whatever you believe in) we can see His (TOT's) hands at work! 👍👍
it's closer than you think! Russia attacked Ukraine...
Still got his hands? He *is hands!*
Yeah, about that... we can see in about the first minute of the video that he has an upper body. A torso. A beer belly with a shirt. I don't know what to think... next time you'll tell me he has legs and (God forbid) a face...
A tip: if you put a UV filter on your lens, it can be sacrificed for the accumulation of angle grinder dust in place of your lens. $15 instead of $500.
They also make clear filters! I use them when I do ‘extreme’ photography experiments. Eg 16x16 tea light stop motion animation. The accumulated soot and wax on that thing afterwards made me never skimp on protective filters again!
@@colinantink9094 Yeah, but would it autofocus on the cracks? 😉
I use clear filters and ND filters when grinding
"The primal urge to fix often overpowers my financial prowess." - This Old Tony 2022
I know the feeling.
Oh, yeah.
My primal urge to fix usually gets satisfied at the latter part of the disassembly stage. Projects? I gotta million of 'em!
Tony: "I don't know if this is adjustable"
Schaublin: "Eveything is adjustable"
Rule of thumb with tripods is that if it didn't cost at least 10% of what the equipment it's holding up cost, you're doing it wrong. Can only drop that $4000 camera once on the concrete shop floor :)
Makes me feel good about using my $10 tripod for my $80 GoPro knockoff 😂😂
sandbags are pretty cheap
Oh, I think it's been demonstrated that it's possible to drop a $400 camera MANY times on the concrete shop floor.
It may have stopped working after the first time or two...
NEW BENDER??? If John DiMaggio isn't voicing it I'M NOT WATCHING!
I'll make my own bender, with blackjack and hookers.
LOL
Good news, he is. They came to an agreement.
@@michaelharris1843 In fact, forget the blackjack.
Lets go alreaaaaaady
Bite my shiny metal ass!
That bolt at 16:37 made me laugh out loud. Nice to know it doesn't just happen to me everytime!
Every single time. I don't understand what physics come together to always have the bolt drop into an inaccessible spot but it happens every time.
@@griffintaylor3861 there are certain laws that feel related. Like random distribution of light is rather even, because the 'particles' near an orifice "remember" the last beam's trajectory. Wave slit experiment. It just knoooooooows.
@@griffintaylor3861 The best ones are when they fall on the floor and you saw exactly where they fell but they somehow fell through a wormhole into another dimension.
@@griffintaylor3861 Well, things are even worse in ToT's garage. With all of the time traveling lathes and such. Wormholes and other various relativity bending gravity wells are as common as metal chips in ToT's garage!
I did that exact same thing a few days ago, except the screw found a hole in a concrete slab.
I remember that Stefan said when you buy a Chinese tool you are buying a project.
The "positive" stop on the other bender looked like an add-on plate, maybe a project you could do after the surface gauge?
I would say that the UB-40 is far superior; especially with a glass of red, red wine
I can’t help falling in love with it….ahem….
TOT's still out there, bendin' the rules.
So glad you're back with us, Tony... you were really missed.
YAY OLD TONY!!! You’ve been missed my friend!!
Always a better day when ToT puts a video out!
Had a similar one of these about 20 years ago from Princess Auto in Winnipeg. The machining of the fixed jaw was not square and made all the bends twisted on flat bar. Took it back to exchange it and found all their stock manufactured exactly the same. Got my money back. Never looked back.
new camera looks great! 😎
The Pasta bending machine looks promising 👀
The new camera "looked" great.
If it doesn't tell you to "bite my shiny metal ass!" It's not a Bender.
@@mattparker9726, Lol!
Ending reminds me of my escapades with the shop class bender.
I learned about work hardening of aluminum, shear strength, and gravity all in one convenient package
9.8m/s feels a lot faster when it takes you by surprise. Shop floors with odd blocks lying around also make cheap chiropractors.
Benchtop bender has a certain ring to it!!! Oooh the after delivery cleanup, I just can't help myself deburring metal and plastic castings, especially handles when you get that sharp lip that irritates, the hanging thread even The chinesium PCBs with slightly ragged edges that cut like razor blades - just a couple of scrapes with a file .... Swapping the steel screws for stainless, a drop of grease and refixing the rubber grip to stop the edge curling. All part of the pleasure of getting new stuff.
When I got married my wife caught me using the un-glazed ring you get on the bottom of cups to gently smooth the corner of my ring that was digging in (also good for final polishing the edge of a sharp knife!).
That scene with the cardboard stressed me out way more than expected
That should not have been so anxiety inducing. But it was.
If you think about it the right/left threaded adjustment is probably correct, you just have to account for it being upside down when manufactured.🌏🏯⛩🉐️
Personally I think he got shipped the southern hemisphere model by mistake.
I've gone through all the various audio issues and settled on my own pre-amp as I couldn't trust my little Canon mirror-less. I'm totally with you on the separate audio track. It seems like a minor roadblock on paper, but is super annoying in practice.
Get PluralEyes. You chuck in all your footage and audio and it'll sync it up and spit out a timeline with replaced audio that you import into your editing package.
As a professional audio engineer -- your audio is absolutely fine. Honestly, I never even noticed your audio. Like, I notice there's audio, but -- you know what I mean. I don't find myself rewinding because something was garbled or the gain was fucked up. Keep doing it your way. No need to have one extra thing to worry about in the moment, let alone later.
Was gonna comment that you could use a Zoom or something similar as an external mic for the camera while recording so the audio would be burned into the same file, but this is a much more valid point. Never noticed it either and that means it works. Especially since I also study music technology and do mixing and producing so I'm usually aware if there are any major problems in audio. Never on your channel so as Jay Straw said: Keep doing it your way.
Having used cheap tripods for photography for years, I understand your situation. Eventually, I decided to get some professional tripods. What a difference. No more heart-check moments when you notice your camera/lens combo doing a back flip when you thought it was locked down. Keep up the good work!
That jaw is notched out because that notch saves material, and when they nested it on the laser/plasma it resulted in a higher part nest.
Don't worry about the handle angle. I'm sure that it will be way different after that hollow tube bends like a pretzel.
You say that, but I have it on good authority that pretzels don't bend, they snap.
@Marc Goodman that's on you, for cheaping out and getting the cold rolled ones, in stead of annealed like you were supposed to.
I have a come-along that has an aluminum tube handle, as I recall from the instruction sheet it's a deliberate weak point so the handle will bend if whatever you're lifting/pulling is beyond the rated capacity. I'd suspect they went with a tube handle on this bender for similar reasons, the handle will bend before you break one of the cast parts.
It's not often that I notice camera changes before they're pointed out, but *holy shit* ! Not just the crispness, but the steel table now looks like steel and not like sepia-toned* steel... I mean the old color palette had its charm, but this is a pretty big improvement
*to be clear, I never noticed the off-color table before, so it's not that bad, just in retrospect the color change is so clear I could tell from memory
12:52 the battery drill manufacturers want you to stand your tool on the battery, so it will tip over, fall on the floor and have the spindle bent. This is why they stand so nicely on their batteries. I've seen this happen three times at work. Spare yourself this experience, lay your Milwaukee on its side.
I worked in a shop where theyd yell at us if we stood our drills on the batteries. Not for fear of breaking the drill, but because it was an aluminum shop, and they could do some serious damage to the product. Everywhere ive worked ever since, people think im weird for always laying my drills on their sides.
Agree. Absolutely the right thing to do.
I've dropped my M12 tools ~40 feet from a tree onto rocks and ~8 feet from a ladder onto concrete... Every battery which experienced such a fall has at least one of the retaining clips broken. Fortunately the tools are much sturdier than the batteries and they are still fully functional with nothing more than a couple of scuffs in the plastic.
Good tip about checking the pivot point, I need to do that to mine as soon as I get the chance. I have always wondered why I constantly have to adjust the moving jaw so that it does not lock up.
Also, for anyone buying something like this: Do not expect the mounting hole pattern to be square and symmetrical. I had mine accidentally turned 90° when I marked the holes and thought "a, doesn't matter, it's a square". Spoiler: It was not a square, and I had to "move" two of the holes.
Indeed, my bending die was also completely not on center, but contrary to Tony's mine was way too thin. That had the benfit that I did not have to machine ist and just could shim it out with some flat stock. But now it works way better.
Love the video, just a couple of things. I rewound like you said four times, but you never moved the camera. Second, I think the angle was measured in metric, that might be why it was a wonky value. Last, I always found taking videos with a still photo camera was weird. Yeah you can change lenses and stuff.... and you get great quality... but it is expensive! I tried taking video on my Pentax K1000. A 36 exposure roll runs out in a couple of seconds. Let's not talk about developing costs! I will stick with my video camera for videos... if I can find some mini dvds.
Long live the dad jokes, but I suppose this Is the place to share them!
The small details in your videos are so good.
The very subtle music as you were machining the angled piece.
Just bravo. Always makes my day when you upload. Thank you. 😊
Man, I didn't know I needed this until you posted it. I've spent so much time doom scrolling and watching depressing news, but this was a sorely needed treat! I genuinely love your content. The auto focus at the end got me good to. Cheers.
I really appreciate how you went out of your way to empathize with the people who made the bender.
You're awesome, thank you.
Only a true craftsman worries about audio sync, matching the voice to the waving hands. Love your videos Tony!
I watched 23 minutes only to find out it won't put 90° bends in wood. You got me again Tony.
It's more about technique. You just need to properly boil the wood first.
The only man on the internet who can get a twenty minute comedy set out of bending metal
Glad someone said it😁😅
This man sense of humor and camera work is amazing. I had a teacher once tell me if you could make someone laugh while they’re learning they’re 10x more likely to remember it. I be learning a lot. Salud compadre 🍻
I’m pretty impressed with how easily you bent the rules.
And I laughed so hard at your final bend results! You sir are a genius!
Tony, This was one (if not the one) of your best videos. The comedy and education you provide is of great value to all of us! Thanks so much!
I think they may have measured the top of the fixed jaw in imperial degrees and the bottom in metric degrees when they manufactured it.
Maybe it was Southern Hemisphere degrees that rotate counter clockwise? 🤔🤔
Radians?
There are imperial and metric degrees? What?
@@MonstertruckBadass do you use more metric or imperial circles?
I feel like making the world's beefiest tripod would be within the skillset of ToT and would make a fun video.
I recently went on a bender, too, Tony. It took me much longer to re-engage with society. Glad you're back!
The urge to fix is a powerful master. Have a JD2 pipe bender and ring roller but missing a bar bender and just get terrible results from MAP heating and hammering. Fantastic insight into the likley manufacturing shortcuts and how to remedy them. The universal bender rabbit hole becons me. SBG-40 ? This summers hanging basket frames will be the best ever. A pleasure to watch.
Thanks Tony ✌ for your 3 year old video on sine bars.
Figured I would comment here on your most recent video. Hoping you would be a bit more likely to read it.
Great practical uses for the dreaded trigonometry. 😅
I was a math nut as a youth. Took intro to Algebra in summer school between 8th grade and freshman HS. ... Algebra I in freshman. Plane and Solid Geometry the following summer school. Then Algebra II Trig in Sophmore year. Sophomore year was awesome because there were 5 varsity Senior cheerleaders in the class. My instructor asked me to personally mentor that clutch of ding ding beauties so they could pass the class. Best class ever 💕
Made friends with all but one of them. But on the down side the varsity football jocks caught wind of me and went on vendetta against me. 🤕
The ladies stepped in and read them the riot act. Thus saving me from a few black eyes 🤣🤣🤣🤣
That was over 45 years ago and I still love math for what it gave me as a young man 😄
Moral of the story : Math can be dangerous ... Yet wonderful 🤣🤣🤣
I LOVE watching your videos. They're somehow like a hilarious yet informative stand-up sketch show, and the subtleness of some of your jokes is spot on 😂
Great video Tony. It made me laugh when the bolt fell into the cam-hole. That stuff happens to me all the time!
Have you considered duct tape and pool noodle bumpers for the cameras on tall tripods? Another idea is to tether the top of the tripod to a cleat or other overhead structure. take up the slack in the length of the leash, so if you bump the tripod, it won't tip over. I've seen it done and it's super effective if you have the overhead supports.
The tether idea is brilliant. Another one of those why didn't I think of that ideas.
Yup if there’s a hole for the bolt to get lost in it happens to me every time, I’m a pro at retrieval at this point in life!
BRB, going to get my welding mask for those porcelain hands
The primal urge to fix often overpowers my financial prowess... boy, do I identify with that! Great video, Tony!
Hey BT.. just wanted to say thanks. Been watching you for years, suddenly, after watching your vid one night, i finally bothered my arse to level up my lathe. I had nooo idea a cast iron bed could twist so far.. After almost 2 years it took less than 30 min's to get a virtual zero along a 15 x 330mm drill rod. I thought my ways were more out than that. So i tested it with a 19 x 60mm tight clearance fit... s**t the bed - sub 2 mics with a 12mm steel boring bar. Un*******believable. 'Til that moment I was in boring taper hell, you da man To' - live long, cheers 🍻
Thanks vm T and sorry - Two 10ths, not 2 mics. I was excited, I forgot a 10ths dti was.. imperial. Decimal imperial? Anyway, loved the new short it was an eye opener for me. Made an mt2 collet block tonight, one that works. No biggie(sniff), I'm taking my new found accuracy in my stride... ... WOO-HOOOOOOOO! 😀
I feel your camera pain, Tony.
I've dropped two $800 cameras right on their face (also attached to a tall tripod) within the last 2 years. The first one didn't survive, and the second one now has glitches and requires a kung fu death grip to adjust the focus/exposure ring.
Luckily the D500 isn't an $800 camera... Yikes
Better than knocking an $800 laser tape measure off of a parapet wall coping onto a parking lot below, deciding now is a good time to upgrade to the $1200 bluetooth version, and then end up chasing it down a steep shingle roof a couple months later. In hindsight, you then reflect on how your instinct was valuing expensive equipment over your own life, and utlimately concluding it was a fair trade. Because there's no way you're shelling out another $1200 for a 2nd one.
lower the center of gravity on the tripod by attaching a weight somewhere.
IDk why someone would trust a top heavy tripod with expensive equipment.
Camera cages save camera lives!
@@darkshadowsx5949 yep. Professional camera tripods are made to have weights hung under them for stability. Amateurs are gonna do what amateurs do.
According to AA, machinists in recovery must mill their own chips (sobriety tokens).
It works if you work it
I’ll drink to that 🍻
@@miles11we Right armature!
Great! Now I know what to do with all these dang 24 hr chips I've got laying around garage!
😋
@@jamesa7506 I mean at least with our keytags, people will sometimes donated them to a meeting if they are still in good condition.
Can't say I've ever been disappointed or annoyed by the audio in your videos, and while the pre-amp version does sound slightly 'cleaner' it's definitely not enough of an improvement to justify all the extra work. The environment you're recording in seems to make much more difference, and you're always smart about when you record and how you treat audio when recording operating machines. Overall, do whatever you feel is easiest, because if it's what you've been doing previously, it already sounds great. Thanks for all your work, always love seeing a TOT video pop up on my subscriptions list!
Ah yes, the joys of Ali Express. :) Cheap, but I’d still need the entire workshop to fix it. Awesome video as always Tony!
I'm not a machinist or even a garage mechanic, But I love this channel
It's great to see you posting again. I look forward to every one.
It does really tie the room together dude
You had me at "cold as a tiches witty"
I will use that at every opportunity and I will make sure you get ALL the credit.
Great stuff
10:07 ... Maybe they thought you'd immediately use the bender to put a 90* bend onto the handle. Oh, wait ...
Proof that you make it real. 99% of "will it run?" vids end in joy but that kinda makes many of them the same. Movement, compression, carbs, ignition. I'm happier that we're going to see how to fix the broken plugs and whatever is seizing that thing. First, take time to get the back less bad👍
We switched to Davinci Resolve a couple of years ago for our channel from adobe. We are really happy and the free version of Davinci does almost everything you would want. We eventually upgraded to get faster render speed.
Anyway. Love your channel and recommend Davinci. It's worth the relearning time.
It also does syncing. I bought the full version just for the insane features, but it's a one time purchase for $300 (got the speed editor and full resolve came with it), but all future versions are basically free upgrade. Never going to touch any adobe after this.
It's a beautiful day when ToT uploads
Honestly audio is great. It has a '' I'm in the garage with you'' feel. Idk about others but feels nicer than pro audio
Yes, what he said. The "pro audio" segment just didn't sound like authentic ToT.
Well, TOT, proves what I always thought - you're two steps from going around the bend. Keep up the good (and entertaining) work.Just don't go pasta 90°.
Dear Tony, I missed your videos a lot. They're the most entertaining moments I have.
I thought you were on a war break. But then when you came back it did surprise me that you didn't mention the situation.
I love your videos because of the genuine humanness of you and your family and the way you describe these relations. And the humor, which is the best nonsense can be. And of course professionalism, knowledge and ingenuity, but these alone are far from the full ToT experience.
So I thought - probably ToT's giving respect to Ukraine right now, and that why there r no vids at the moment.
Would love to hear your 2 pence on the situation, even if it's the most simple and basic empathy.
Cheers and thanks for everything you give us 💛
thanks raayonaim! yes releasing a video did feel awkward. but talking about it (in the context of the foolishness in this video) didn't feel right either. certainly deserves a discussion. Its hard to believe this is even a thing in 2022.
@@ThisOldTony Dear ToT, thx so much for replying. I'm excited to first in my life talk to you, I've been watching your videos for 3 years now.
I totally understand that it was out of context to speak about it in the vid, you're absolutely right.
It's really depressing that it's still a thing in 2022, but so are so many atrocities... Unfortunately progress in tech doesn't go hand in hand w moral advancements.
Anyways, in my view your channel actually does have a moral standpoint, even though that's not the subject-matter. Perhaps that's why I'm so tightly following. I feel that your ethics are of enjoying skills, knowledge and making, of laughing together, of community, and of appreciation of the wisdom of previous generations and others.
Thx so much for all of the pleasurable hours I've spent in your garage :) Best to you and your family, and late condolences as well.
I have the same bender. I use it mainly for bending electrical busbars. beats hydraulic benders every time. the downside is no more overtime pay.
This year is already saved. Regardless what happens with russia or covid or whatever…this old Tony uploads regulary again it has to be good!
Greetings from germany
My camera setup these days is a Panasonic GX85. The unlimited record limit the 90% the reason I have it.
Lumix sure does pack a lot of photo and video quality in their camera's. I've got the S1 and though the autofocus is 50% of the reason I have trust issues with my cameras (The other 50% being the first roll I shot on my hassie coming back blank from the lab), I'm otherwise very happy with the overall quality.
At this point the ToT-brand voice is the one recorded by camera audio, worked great so far and it's what everyone knows. Might as well keep it!
I've bought all rigid drills, tools, everything. Not one has failed me. It's been 10 years since my first drill. The impacts, shop vacs, everything is still choochin. Plus a life time warranty.
I have a smaller version of that bender, and I stand at the other side of the machine. I pull the long lever towards me with my right hand. If you look at your lever, you can see it a few degrees offset from the workpiece, which makes sure that your lever is ahead, and your hand is clear of the work.
The 17-55 was my favourite lens. Traded it and most of the DX gear, except the D500, to get a full-spectrum D810. Loved that lens.
I want a D500, I have a D850 and an 810. The 850 has been just a treat for the last few years. If it’s the camera I keep forever l, that’s fine with me.
Yep the D500 with the 17-55 is a tank but it still can't survive a 5ft drop :)
I think this is the best and most informative video you have released today! Wondrous.
Your humor is always on point, never change Tony.
He's been changing ever since he started, and thank the fat baby jeebuz. He evolves slowly though, you can't even see the drag marks on his knuckles.
The 12 inch ruler joke made me giggle a bit
Aahhh, good ole’ Wisconsin! I was born and raised here! I bet the Uber driver had no idea of the amount of celebrity they were chauffeuring about! But then again with never seeing your face in a single video only the voice would tell you and AvE apart! The secret is the beer, cheese and brats make us a hardy bunch when dealing with the cold. Hope you partook in those lavish indulgences! Great video as always!
Man oh man it's my favorite time of the month. I need more TOT content! I think I've ran through just about all your videos 😔
I would advise using a smaller aperture (Aka a higher F number) in some situations your depth of field is so small that it's hard to understand the dimension and scale of a piece of metal :D
Man this made my day. I was using my blow torch to remove my iron curtains after Russia invaded Ukraine and I needed a break.
Get a brake drum from a 30 ton or larger truck. Open side down, cut 3/4 in inch scallops out of the edge so you have 3 legs. Weld a pole to the top. Tada! Super heavy tripod that won't tip!
Or just use the whole wheel and tire off the truck.
Or just use the whole truck.
Keep the diff and the half-axle for smooth, smooooth panning action.
@@jonathanrichards593 That's a hell of an idea!
Have one for a few years now and for the money it's a good buy. Yes same issues with the alignment and jaws. I have a different handle though. Nice review Mr Tony.
That's a very nice block with 2 holes and a slot. I like how the holes don't interfere with the slot and I can't wait to see how you achieved this.
Great camera choice. You might consider Davinci Resolce for editing. There is a free version that is extremely useful, and it isn't as hard as it appears to use. Nothing needs improvement in your outstanding video work, just the option of saving time in production.
The take up screw was installed backwards. Take it out and turn it around so it works as you would expect. /s
As a production professional with over 25 years in the industry, I have to say your videos have been wonderful to watch. Even my kids look forward to watching them. If you're in the market for a great camera at a relatively reasonable price I would suggest the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 4k because it's not only great quality, but you get a full DaVinci Resolve license included. The best part is you don't have to pay a yearly fee or for upgrades.
Keep up the great work!
at the beginning i was wondering why the creepy voice from the ether was suddenly sounding different. and then it was confirmed seconds later! Thanks for confirming I am not crazy, creepy voice from the ether and disembodied hands!
I'm a tool builder; I don't use them, I just build them. TY for showing me a tool that I will not build, use or buy. Best wishes for a great New Year.
Tony a time traveler as yourself should of recognized they sent you the non-Euclidian model. That’s why it was making higher dimensional non-planar bends the camera couldn’t pickup.
To fix the handle you should bend it in the bender for some high quality bendseption.
Tony, you can easily automatically synchronise entire folders of video and audio with software called PluralEyes. You chuck in all your video and audio, it syncs it up, and then it spits out a timeline file you import into Premiere or Premiere Elements, assuming Elements does that. It's invaluable.
@@rherydrevins Just pirate it
Please do not use separate audio! That "warm and familiar studio host"-voice was... not suitable for the "We get to hang out with Tony in the workshop" vibes. And I'm usually super picky about audio because I have some pretty high end head phones. But it was just totally off. The slightly echoy sound with a wee tad of white noise fits perfectly with the mental image of being somewhere with concrete floors and steel surfaces.
Nice to see some action with the old machine again. And a post from you always makes the day.
Great to see you again Old Tony, love your work, keep it up!
What an awesome video
For the audio problem solving and not bothering with syncing it with video, I'd recommend a camera mounted microphone. A few examples would be: Rode VideoMicro and Movo VXR10.
Wish you all the best as always!
Just got my first Tig welder, thinks for introducing the world of Tig welding to me
You know what you did
I love this guy! The subtle comedy bits he sneaks in are hilarious!
Loving these videos, such a cozy feel to it and fun watching you make an "meh" product better by improving the small details. Cheers Tony.
I have a bender very like this one. must have been made by same people,20 years + ago, but adjuster is the bolt type. your handle is horrible and weak, mine is about 3" x 1/2" flat bar. I have mounted mine on the wall on a horizontal hinge at rear base from 2 farm gate eyes with a length threaded bar between the 2 eyes forming a very strong hinge, and 2 small 2"horizontal hinges 1 on front bottom edge of bender with telescoping tube attatched to support when in use and the other hinge on bottom of tube bolted the ground , and this allows bender to drop flush against the wall in my small workshop when not in use. so it dose not use up any bench space, then i just grab handle that allways falls towards the ground when not in use, and lift bender till its level for use and push a spring clip in telescoping tube holes to keep it in place, it works for me
My wife just spit out her drink and started laughing at me because when I received my This Old Tony Notification, I let out a very loud Yeehaw!!
Regarding the audio: I actually much prefer the camera audio in this video to the bit that you did with the separate recorder. Might just be an EQ and levels thing. So, fixable. But also, I'm pretty sure I heard a weird whine in the background of the separate recorder section.
As a Swede I do appreciate the 40mm sound! I mean, if it would be something like 6385,25/755885 inch or 74 gauge…or I don’t know…65 seconds sound…I would be all confused and would have to convert the sound into mm…And then I would have to sync a separate sound file. Thank you for all your hard work and consideration!
I recommend you put a bit of high pressure grease on your dies and stock and see how it affects the shape / sharpness / springback of your bends.
Short story long: Many moons ago, I picked up a Hossfeld #2 bender - what appears to be their educational package plus some extra dies - for around $1000 at an auction (the kind of bidding war you don't give up because *you know you want it*). While I did pretty alright (probably $5k worth of dies on top of the bender, and the optional stand), every piece was covered in what must have been a quarter inch thick powdercoat, Alanis-Morissette-ironically your blue color rather than the OEM gray. While this should have ruined the bender (I mean, a thick layer of soft material exactly where cast iron is supposed to be plowing into material you paid good money for), I found that a slathering in axle grease on the stock and the dies makes it work quite well. Controlled slippage is allegedly part of die design (presumably the clearance part of the design, I dunno how much they planned for the coefficient of friction of paint).
Oh, and a dedicated pedestal is definitely worth investing in. I have a 6 foot cheater bar on my bender and I can do 180 degree bends, so long as I don't park a car in the garage.
I wish I was clever enough to tap threads in my 1/2" cold roll welding table (another auction find) when I put a vise on the corner, but maybe it's best that I put flange nuts on the bottom instead of breaking a tap off in my table... the holes in my vise were 1/2" or 5/8" - lots of WD-40 for coolant and a battery swap was required.
Glad to see you back. Wisconsin is actually a sampling of Canada that just happens to be in the US. It's pretty miserable cold. But they got lots of sausage, cheese and beer!