Hand bending vs. pre-fab offset fittings. When did you switch?

I used to hand bend every single offset on commercial jobs. Took forever but felt like a badge of honor. Around 2019 I started buying pre-fab offsets for RG6 and haven't looked back. Saves me maybe 15 minutes per apartment unit. Anyone else make that switch or still bending by hand?

3 comments

3 Comments

stone.lisa27d ago

Holding a torch for hand bending is one thing, but have you actually timed yourself on a whole row of apartments with pre-fabs? Those 15 minutes per unit add up fast when you're doing 50 units in a complex. Hand bending still has its place for odd angles and repair work, sure. But for production work, switching to offsets just makes sense unless you like spending your whole day fighting with a bender.

the_alice27d ago

Start timing one part of the job and you'll see where the day goes. @stone.lisa is right that production work is a whole different beast than a quick fix. This same lesson pops up everywhere, from cooking a meal to running a crew, you gotta pick the fastest tool for the big jobs or you're just wasting time.

ellioth3727d ago

Exactly 48 units in a complex I worked last spring. @the_alice is spot on about timing because I ran the numbers and pre-fab offsets saved me over 11 hours compared to hand bending every single one. The big jobs demand the fastest method or you're just burning your own time and the customer's money. Hand bending has its place for one-off stuff but production work is a different game entirely.