1 pair of stays with S-bends. I was initially worried about making sure the bends were in plane to each other. I realized that you only have to get close. Checking them on flat surface is easy and minor corrections with a vice are also quick and easy. Also, do the larger bend first.


I did a couple of test bends. I got a piece of 3/4" x .035 to 25 deg before it started to crimp. Plenty good enough for S-bend stays. I can put the bends about 4" apart if I move one of the outside dies towards the center. This limits the bend to about 18 deg.
My old mill vice makes a decent press. It takes a couple of extra hands to get everything lined up but it's better than buying an arbor press.




This is my stupid simple tube bender. It's a blatant rip-off of the one I found at Steve Garro's blog. I modified only to fit the materials I had on hand. The "dies" are all machined from 7075 alum. The base is simply a piece of .120 wall scrap tubing with 2 pieces of mild steel bar stock stick welded on it. I did key the pieces of bar stock to make sure they ended up on there straight. I made all the dies on a vertical CNC mill and surfaced the curves.