Mini Bender

There is a fair bit to wince about in the machining video, but the concept is good:

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Quick and dirty bender for this sized material, drill and ream two holes in a suitable plate and drop in two dowels. Push the material to be bent around the dowels with a suitable piece of straight faced material.

The reality of most engineering is that good enough is all you need. In industry unnecessary ornamentation or finishing processes are just wasting time and money when making something functional and you only do it if the customer wants to pay for it. It is the principal that seems to be used when a lot of hobby machinery is made. Making something that needs to look good or needs to last also makes it expensive. For hobbyists where time is not costed we can do what we like and if that includes working to very fine tolerances, scrapping off a functional part because we don't like some small defect or going for a mirror finish on every surface then that's for our personal pleasure. I believe someone making a tool like this is aiming for some monetization for their video so working good enough and looking good enough is all that is going to be required of it. It may go into a scrap bin as soon as the video is finished.

Martin

I was wincing about the ‘workshop safety’ issues, Martin … not the standard of finish.

MichaelG.

It's part of the ethos of making money from these videos, get it done as quickly and simply as possible without making it look like you need special equipment to do it. It's the everyman concept, every man can do this with basic tools. A drill and an angle grinder and away you go. Look, I'll show you how, just watch to the end and make a comment, and like it as well. If you make a video with lathes and milling machines it puts off people who don't have these tools or experience of them or are thinking of getting them. I don't read every post on this forum, I look at what interests me. As soon as you mention something like CNC there will be a section of the forum who will pass over the posts about it but others will be attracted to them. YouTube videos are the same, they are often crafted to maximise income for the originator. Telling people that it is not safe to do it like this or that it is a dangerous process will put people off and cost the originator money. If you start commenting that it is dangerous then all the comments, likes, dislikes and subscriptions add to the money made as it shows people are watching the video beyond the first minute.

Martin C

O.K. thanks Martin … I will try to avoid posting such links in future.

I just thought the general design-concept of this bender was quite good, and thought others might be interested:

… as you are the only person to respond to it, and your comments are negative: I was presumably wrong.

MichaelG.

MichaelG,

Please don't stop posting your links. I, for one, find them interesting to some degree or other. Some I like and some do not cover my interests, That's my choice.

Also, not all YouTube channels make money. Mine certainly doesn't, that's for sure. I don't do it for income. If I did, I'd starve. I don't ask people to like, subscribe or all that nonsense, but some do, amazingly.

John

My response was also not designed to put people off flagging up interesting videos, but I do think you have to have your cynical glasses on for a lot of these videos. For example, starting a discussion regarding safety in the video's comments will just increase the comment count and encourage the risky behaviour. I'm not sure if linking a video in the forum increases viewing counts but it seems likely. There are certainly a lot of safe machining and manufacturing videos available that are also monetized and I, personally, do not mind encouraging the originators by watching or commenting on the content and so contributing to their income from YouTube.

Martin C

Edited By Martin Connelly on 16/11/2022 11:37:46

👍 never mind the naysayers, keep posting your links, interesting video with the poor practices you rightly mentioned.

Ian

Hi MichaelG, the concept of the design is good, and some people may well find the tool a useable one. The safety aspects are of concern, and I do think it should be up to You Tube not to allow such things to be shown. As to the person doing the work, I suppose it is his figures that he could slice with a cutting disc and burn in more ways than one with his arc welding, not to mention being clouted with a vice pulled out of his hand by the drilling machine, or getting his figures caught on the milling cutter spinning close by, while showing us his work. On the other hand, it can help others to see what an unsafe method of work it is, by the likes of us commenting about it.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 16/11/2022 12:09:48

Michael, I also enjoy your postings and links. Keep them coming!

Made one of those a couple of years ago to do some wire bending, I incorporated eccentric pins which make finer adjustment possible. Works well.

Does posting dodgy techniques make people less safe or safer.?

Generally it goes like this.

Something on a video or photo is is bit iffy safety wise.

Several people then post to point out the hazards.

People read the whole thread and have a demonstration of bad practice and the reasons it may turn round and bite you.

An informed descision can then be made as to following the practice or not especially if further posts have hinted at better and safer ways of proceeding.

I always maintain that we learn by our mistakes but it's better to learn by others mistakes.

All H and S training videos have instances of how not to do things and the consequences.

Pretty much like what happens here.

regards Martin

Edited By Martin Kyte on 16/11/2022 14:06:33

+ 100 keep them coming

Robert Butler

Michael

Keep your post coming i read a lot of them

H

Edited By Harry Wilkes on 16/11/2022 16:22:02

MichaelG:

Thanks, as always for the link.

One merit of this school of videos is that in the absence of any commentary one can mute the dreadful soundtrack and concentrate on the concept.

Who has the time to watch these sort of videos all the way through? First ten seconds to see he is one of those 'drag it out' merchants and a quick look at the last 30 seconds to see the end product, if they bother to show it.
Always interesting to see the product though and thanks for putting a proper title on the thread for future searches and not wasting my time if I wasn't interested in benders.

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Which he did … and it looked [despite various shortcomings] to be working quite well

… which is why I posted.

MichaelG.

Keep posting, a lot of "postings" in the "bun room"? are much less to do with engineering, although I learn from some of them.

Do we think "we" are all a little more grumpy than ever these day?.... I am told so many times a day, lol.

Pete

I'm not grumpy, I have an excess of righteous indignation.

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That statement, Sir, is getting dangerously close to being an oxymoron

… if it’s righteous, how can you have an excess ?

MichaelG.