I finally gave up on using my old hand bender for 1-inch EMT

I mean, I've had that thing for like 8 years and always told myself it was fine. But last month on a big office fit-out, I had to do a bunch of offsets and kicks. My buddy let me use his Greenlee 555 bender for one run, and I did in 10 minutes what took me 45 with my old bender and a lot of cussing. The one-shot head and the foot pedal are just a different world. Has anyone else made the switch and found it actually saved time on a tight deadline job?

3 comments

3 Comments

scott.drew7d ago

Last summer on a hospital job, we had a 2-inch rigid rack to bend. My foreman brought in a 555 from another site. I swear, we did the whole rack, six bends, in under an hour. With my old hand bender, just setting up for each bend took forever. The foot pedal lets you make tiny adjustments without letting go, so everything just lines up perfect the first time. It felt like cheating, but it got us ahead of schedule.

joelt707d ago

Honestly that "felt like cheating" part is so true. We had a 555 show up on a big store remodel last year for some 1-1/2 inch. Tbh I was skeptical at first but man, once you use the foot pedal you can't go back. It's all those tiny adjustments without letting go of the pipe that changes everything. Ngl I used to fight with my hand bender for half a morning on a simple offset. With that thing we were just knocking out perfect bends back to back. It really does just get you ahead of schedule when nothing goes wrong the first time.

carr.elliot6d ago

Wait you did six bends in under an hour on 2-inch? That's actually insane, I would have lost a whole day just to the set-up. Those machines really are a different league.