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 40×3 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.

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 !)