Vise-Grip wire bender

[Dennis Toth]

A few years ago a friend (now passed) had a wire bender made from a set of Vise-grip pliers that had the tip ground to I believe 45 deg on each one. Charlie Reeves I believe came up with this I used them a couple times but never got to make my own set. As I recall they worked great for landing gear and gave a nice crisp bend.

Anyone have some photos and details of how to grind the tips to make 90 deg bends?

Best,   DennisT

[Dan McEntee]

   Allen Brickhaus had a little something to do with this  also,  I think. You just need two pair of Vice Grips. You grind a flat spot at about a 45 degree angle to the front edge of the jaws on one side of one pair, and then you grind a matching flat spot on the opposite side of the second pair. You mark your spot where you want the bend, lock on the first pair, then leave a small gap, then lock on the second pair. Then you grab the handle ends and spread them apart to make the bend. The 45 degree flat spots give you the clearance you need to have the vice grips close enough together to do this. The flat spot takes up about half the jaw, but you should still be able to use the vice grips for other works still. I , myself, prefer to use the Harry Higgly bending jig. It's small, simple, no moving parts to wear out, but you do need a solid vice and work bench to use it, but 99% of us all have that anyway. What ever method you use, practice with coat hanger wire or some other soft wire to work out the details while you get used to the process.
   Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee

[John Rist]

Search this forum for wire bender and the Vice Grip wire bender will pop up with pictures along with tons of other advice on wire bending.

[Brent Williams]

This is a pictorial that Allen Brickhaus posted on the old SSW site. 
I arranged his pictures into this animation.
https://stunthanger.com/smf/building-techniques/prop-clearance-50151/

[Avaiojet]

I , myself, prefer to use the Harry Higgly bending jig. It's small, simple, no moving parts to wear out, but you do need a solid vice and work bench to use it, but 99% of us all have that anyway. What ever method you use, practice with coat hanger wire or some other soft wire to work out the details while you get used to the process.
Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee

This is absolutely true and important. You don't need to bend a gear leg which may be .125" longer than the other.

I've had my purchased wire bender longer than I'm old. Yea, takes some getting used to because you have to have an understanding as to where you mark the wire before the bend and the other side is the opposite.

I could never have accomplished these items with ease without a professional wire bender. I don't use a vice, I just screw it to the corner of the bench when needed and remove afterwards.

Yes, I always use coat hanger wire for the test or two. Just to be sure.

Charles

[Dennis Toth]

Thanks Brett W, that was what I needed to see. I did the search on this forum but seems to have been lost in one of the change overs. SSW is gone so your video is what we have.

Best,    DennisT

[Peter in Fairfax, VA]

I've got a bender.  However, having difficulty finding 1/8" wire.

[FLOYD CARTER]

I doubt that many have an oxy/acetylene torch.  Bending 1/8" wire is frustrating unless the wire is first heated to a dull red.  This, of course, weakens the wire, but the bend areas are usually not stressed enough to cause failure.  Bending large diameter wire when cold too often causes cracks which might not be detected.

[Avaiojet]

I've got a bender.  However, having difficulty finding 1/8" wire.

Buy on line?

If you have the bending device, used wire, with a bit of effort can be bent back. Yes, flat surface hammering is the final, but not as much as one would think.

[Dennis Toth]

Built my vise-grip bender about ten minutes ago. It took more time to set up the grinder (I have a small one from Harbor Freight) get the work-mate legs open and plug in the power than it did to grind the two faces flat at 45 -50 degrees (see above video). I tested it on some old 1/8" gear wire and it works just like Charlie and Allen described.

One tip I would give is get the vise-grips that have the points in the jaws lined up, this allows the jaw to close around the wire smoothly. Tighten down on the wire a good amount but not guerilla tight. Really simple to make and use.

Best,     DennisT 

[Dennis Toth]

The tool is very simple to make either from a grinning wheel or with a good hand file (hand file should take about 10 minutes per side) once you see how to grind off the jaw edge. Attached shows the gear I bent for my electric S1 Ringmaster and the two vise-grip tools. Second shot is a close-up on the jaw flats. You can't believe how easy it is to bend tight 90 deg. bends with this tool.

Best,   DennisT

[Dan McEntee]

   Remember that you don't want the bend too sharp, you NEED some small radius , especially with today's wire, or it may crack. That is the advantage of the Higgley Bender, you get the radius from the 1/4" pin, you bend around (or whatever diameter it is.)
  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

[Brett Buck]

I doubt that many have an oxy/acetylene torch.  Bending 1/8" wire is frustrating unless the wire is first heated to a dull red.  This, of course, weakens the wire, but the bend areas are usually not stressed enough to cause failure.  Bending large diameter wire when cold too often causes cracks which might not be detected.

   If you heat it up enough to soften it to make it easy to bend, you will also completely destroy the temper in the wire, and it will be dead soft like a coat hanger. That defeats the purpose of having spring steel wire.

    Brett

[Dennis Toth]

The Vise-Grip bender gives just enough radius so that the bend is tight (like you need for a profile fuse) but does not crack. If you look at the video that Brett W posted you can see that you can adjust the radius by leaving a little gap between where the jaws lock on to the wire. Allen and Charlie knew what they were doing and it is a great tool. I agree with Brett on heating the wire you lose the spring you need for landing gear. Try this tool, really cheap to make and you will be surprised how easy it is to use it.

Best,   DennisT

[Avaiojet]

All we need now is the minimum number for the gap between pliers for various diameters of wire.


Motorman

Trial and error? Eyeball?

Hell of a time making a coil spring. 

CB