Groz metal Bender

Does anyone have one of these, or it's East German predecessor ?

I have a Groz version, purchased on offer (from Axminster Power Tools, I think) many years ago & notice that it is still available from Chronos and others. I have played around with it on thin sheet steel & recently made a couple of "U" bolts from M6 stainless studding, but otherwise it has seen little use.

I had a requirement to make a couple of dozen brackets at work from 40mm x 3mm galvanised perforated strips and, rather than beat them into submission, took the metal bender in today. According to the description of the capacity of the tool it should have been able to produce right-angle bends in 40x3 strip, though this is right on the stated upper limit.

First problem was that 40mm strip (actually 39.5) would not enter the body of the bender - a rough casting complete with mould release taper that measured nearer 38.5mm than 40 at the larger end. So the strips were milled en-mass to 38 wide. The tool was assembled & held in a vice - the first strip bent to around 45 degrees (I was aiming for a right angle), then the rack section of the tool that applies pressure to the job bent. I ended up pounding the brackets to shape after all.

The bent rack section bent back straight rather more easily than I was expecting & I wondered if the original East German versions had hardened parts. I had originally assumed that "Groz" was an East European maker, but it is apparently Indian according to the instruction sheet. My experiences with Indian tools have been less than favourable & this one appears also to look like a reasonable tool but fails to operate as expected due to poor manufacturing and/or materials specification.

It may be that I was just pushing it's envelope a bit too far (the galvanised strip may well be tougher than plain sheet steel sheared from plate), but I would be interested hear of other's experiences with this device - particularly if anyone could confirm (or deny) that the East German original used hardened parts in it's construction.

Regards,

Nigel B.

Hi Nigel,

Years ago I bought one of these Groz benders from "a bunch of busy bees" a tool sale firm here in Canada. It was made in India, it said so on the box despite the European sounding name. 

I tried mightily to adjust this and remake that and tune the other, for about a month, to no avail. Its' geometry was just wrong to bend the strips I was doing, and its' construction was so poor everything in the tool just bent if the stock was near capacity of the machine. Any light stock bent was at a slight angle to the edges, and thin stock would slip in the bender. All the pivot pins fit poorly and were stiff in rotation. Several pins bent during use.

The bender I had was total garbage. I could not get a refund of my $75 because I had modified the device trying to get it to work. Note to self - if a new tool does not do what it says on the box, take it back right away for refund.

I have bought a few Groz tools over the years, but overall they were very poor quality in my opinion and I returned them. The last straw was a "toolmaker's" vise which was so soft it bent when I clamped it down, and the threads in the screw stripped the first time it was tightened. Looking at it afterward, the fixed jaw was milled and ground almost 3 degrees off square to the side of the vise, so even if it had been decently hardened if would not have been much use for milling or EDM as intended. Again total garbage. That one went back also for refund. No more Groz for me (or "the bunch of busy bees" tool sale firm either).

Unfortunately I don't know about any predecessor to the bender that came from the DDR, hardened or not. My posting is intended primarily as a 'buyer beware' advisory with Groz brand tools.

JD

Edited By Jeff Dayman on 28/11/2012 20:34:36

I thought that Groz stuff was made in Germany,and was surprised at the poor quality of it,then I discovered that it is made in India. That explained a lot ! Now,I regard it as just another name,and as the Bard said, "What,s in a name,ect,ect "

Well Larry, assuming the Bard said it at all, I suspect as a wordsmith he might have been more likely to have said "What's in a name" etc (there being no need for more than one ect, or etc even )

David,

I stand corrected. As someone else said recently,what a great site this is,so much to learn here,and not all about model engineering !

Larry

I was gently teasing, I hope you'll forgive me for that

It was that bird Juliet who said it to young Romeo.

What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet;

But I've also found ...

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

..word...? ...name...? Seems this was never printed in Shakespeare's lifetime but was made up afterwards.

I wish I hadn't started looking now.

David,

I know there was no offence intended,and none was taken. We are both too long in the tooth for that and I suspect we both have skins like tool steel !

We do seem to have opened a right can of worms !!

Larry

Tool steel with 5% cobalt

And indeed we do seem to have opened a can of worms!

What does all this back and forth have to do with model engineering / Groz benders?

On topic please, or suggest start a new thread.

Jeff

My sincere apologies for bringing unwanted light hearted humour to a thread that was, after all, six years old.

I will try not to do it again.

Have a nice day

Amased you have just realised, been saying it for decades dont just assume a German name its made in Germany its more than likely not and cheap tat.

Totally agree with Jeff Dayman.

These things are easily mislaid on this site, so I think it worth posting a link to a brief review of the real CZ version of the bender: **LINK**

https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/sites/7/documents/cz%20bender.pdf

It would be useful to know, from Groz users, how much of the design and quality remains.

MichaelG.

The quality of my Groz is absolute rubbish . As soon as I tried to work it with anything of substance both the rack and the clamp plate bent so easily that it went straight back in box , where it has ostensibly remained ever since . Must get round one of these days to slinging it into the scrap bin .

Strange how old posts come back to life !

Like Trevor, my Groz bender has remained in its box (probably the best made part of the kit !) in a rarely opened cupboard since that last unsuccessful outing in 2012.

I have not been able to find out if the DDR original was made from better materials & intend, some day, to remake the too soft parts & poorly finished parts from something a bit better, or maybe get hold of an original if I can find one at a reasonable price.

Michael, I'm pretty certain the Groz copy is closely based on what was marketed here as the Carl Zeiss device, so would expect its theoretical capablities to be the same. When I initially tried it out on some 1.5mm sheet steel off cuts I was able to replicate some of the examples from the instruction sheet, but the poor materials and workmanship mean it is inacapable of heavier work. Quite a nice steel box, though !

Nigel B

(who never was much of a Shakespeare fan - "Slug" Howarth, the English master, saw to that !)