I thought about posting this over in tools, but then realized that Armor is one of those applications where you can run into just a teensy bit of PE (right, wing_nut??)
So, as the title implies, I am in the market for a PE bending tool and want some opinions. I am trying to balance cost with effectiveness. I am reaching the point where vice grips, pliers, razr blades and luck just don’t seem to be getting the job done.
What do you recommend? Which tools have you used and what did you like/dislike about them?
I have an Ausfwerks Fenderbender and LOVE it but unfortunatly they’re nolonger being produced… I know a lot of people that use Etchmates and really like them…
Take a look at this poage on my site about 1/4 way down. Since that page went up I added an Etch Mate but all te mall bit get these tools and I only use the EM for long bends.
Honestly, my best tool for PE is my Optivisor. I can pretty much bend mostly anything as long as I can see ir well enough. I use straight-edge razor blades, several exacto blades, a shaprening stone, and a steel ruler.
Hey Boyd here’s a picture of some of my high tech pe tools.
And yes that is a cabinet hinge. I have three of them all different size’s and they work great for bending the longer pieces. I use these more than the pe tool itself.
This statement bears repeating. I just started using PE in earnest, see my thread on my Sherman WIP lower on this page.
I got an etch mate to help me, and honestly I am unable to even see the parts well enough to bend them correctly. I am looking at/through optivisors tonight on the way home.
Many of the parts included in the Aber Sherman photos set are as small as the ladder sight on the rear of an M-2, probably smaller than this “H”. I have trouble cutting these off withouth destroying them, yet many must be bent into multiple right angles.
I will be posting as I go along on this build, but I don’t intend to even try again until I get some magnification.
I dropped by harbor freight last weekend and picked up a medien priced (6 bucks) optivisor with lights and it may be the best money I have spent in years on modeling.
What a difference they make!
They had a really nice one for 10 bucks with 6 different lens’s for depth of view.
It is ironic that you posted this. After I wrote this, as I was driving home, I began thinking about how I could make a more efficient ‘DIY’ photoetch tool. I said to myself, “Hm, Self, you know what, I bet a set of different sized hinges might work pretty well…”
It only has four lenses, a 1.2x, 1.8x. 2.5x and 3.5x, but compared to the prices of others I have seen, it seems like a heck of a deal. Is that the one you were talking about?
I don’t have a Harbor Freight near me, but it seems like it might be worth it to mailorder one…
