The term “conduit bender” is a bit vague. Originally, it was a bending shoe with a long handle against which you’d push pretty hard and you’d typically use the floor or a wall as the opposing force. The curve of the shoe would prevent the conduit from simply kinking, and you’d get a nice smooth bend if you used the correct size shoe to match the size of conduit. This device today is called a hickey.
When electrometallic tubing (EMT) came along, its thinner walls meant the geometry was just not quite right for a conduit shoe so an EMT shoe was developed. Even among conduit shoes you have a choice between intermediate metallic conduit (IMC) and rigid metallic conduit (RMC). Rigid is thicker than IMC, so it has a different radius. IMC is stronger than rigid, so the required force is different. What about PVC-coated rigid? A different shoe there, too.
Use the correct shoe (or channel in a multi-use shoe) to match the type of raceway. If you do not have the correct shoe, don’t do the bend.
Then we have hydraulic benders and electric benders (collectively, we can call them power benders). These save labor and increase efficiency, even the pricey high-end ones provide a high return on the investment if you do much bending. But there’s more force involved than your buddy Steve just putting his back into the hickey. Trying to bend raceway with the wrong shoe becomes more serious. Even the better shoes on the market will be damaged if this is done enough (sometimes on the first round), while the cut-rate knockoffs have been known to shatter.
To stay safe, follow these rules for using benders:
- Handle any power bender carefully when transporting it to the job site. Once it’s situated, inspect it for any possible damage, level it, and ensure you have the necessary shoes and any other accessories for the raceway type and size you will be bending.
- Ensure the area is clear. You’re exerting a lot of force, whether via the leverage of a long handle or via hydraulics. And you’re typically trying to bend a 10-ft “stick” of metal. Allow room to do this work.
- Use the correct type and size of shoe. Use a tubing shoe for tubing and the correct conduit shoe for the variation of conduit you are using. Always read the shoe before using it with a given type of raceway to ensure it matches. Size also matters, so read the shoe to see if it will accommodate the raceway size you need to bend.
- Absolutely do not allow other trades to use your bender. Typically, they will want to bend a material that your bender wasn’t designed to work with. And just as typically, they are not “qualified persons” for using your bender safely.
- Never use pipe in a conduit or EMT bender. This can easily result in catastrophic damage to the shoe or other components, and that can mean blowing metal shards at the user.
- Ensure the hydraulic bender is correctly set up and level. Inspect for this any time it is moved, before first use.
- Ensure you properly mark the work piece for the bend. Double check it. Each time you must redo a bend, you not only waste material but also create another exposure to potential danger.
- Ensure you properly clamp the work piece. Each bender has a prescribed method for doing this. Check to see that you have followed it before applying force.
- Use a reamer, not a screwdriver, to deburr. While a screwdriver is convenient and appears to do an adequate job, it’s not a reamer and it’s going to leave a burr that someone can get cut on. Not necessarily every time, but it takes only once to cause an injury.
- When done with a power bender, collect the shoes and other accessories, putting them away carefully. Once you’ve loaded the bender onto the truck, secure it properly. Inspect again after unloading.
