Wasted $400 on a cheap conduit bender - don't make my mistake

I bought a no-name conduit bender off Amazon about 3 months ago, thinking I was saving a bundle. It was like $400 instead of the $800 for a Greenlee, and I figured hey, steel is steel, right? Wrong. The first few bends were okay, but after maybe 20 uses the handle started to wobble and the shoe got all scratched up. Then I had a 3-inch offset that came out at 47 degrees instead of 45, totally throwing off my run in a commercial job over on Oak Street. The foreman saw it and made me redo the whole thing, cost me 2 extra hours. I ended up buying the Greenlee anyway, so I lost that $400 plus the time. Has anyone else had luck with a cheaper bender or am I just an idiot?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_anthony1mo ago

Spend the extra few hundred on a Greenlee, that $600 learning lesson will save your back.

wood.eric1mo ago

Yeah, Greenlee stuff is EXPENSIVE but you only buy it once. That cheap price tag turns into PAIN real fast.

sean_cooper581mo ago

Bought a cheaper knockoff once. Lasted about two jobs before it started slipping and I wanted to throw it across the room. Greenlee is painful at checkout but at least I don't have to buy another one.