Looking for the correct tooling to build my first cage. Need ideas. Want to purchase good tools to get the job done efficiently. I have a miller tig welder, but instead of paying someone to do the cage, will rather learn to do it myself. Any advice welcome. Thank you.

 

Deffinetly purchase good tools. It will make things easier, especially if you plan to do more later (friends, side jobs). I am finishing up my first cage, and before I started it, I was looking into the exactly the same thing you are. Here is a list of things I ended up buying:

Tubing bender: JD2 model 4 (I had hydraulic pump and made my own rolling pedestal). There are plans online where you can make make your own bender though.

Tubing notcher: JD2 (ttp://cgi.ebay.com/JD2-Notch-Master-Tubing-Notcher-For-Round-Tube-Notching_W0QQitemZ370043883235QQihZ024QQcategoryZ9 2150QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

Pipemaster tube coping/notching tool (to mark the tube on where to cut).

I also bought bend-tech software, but it's not exactly needed (it was easy to make very precise bends cause it tells you where to mark and how long to cut. You can model your whole cage in it).

Make sure you measure things twice (five+ times in my case) and cut once.

I still managed to mess up one tube a-pillar to mainhoop.

I'll edit later.

 

Thanks for the info, Keep it coming.

 

take your time, think about how everything will come together in the end and what things will be affected by putting a bar in one place as opposed to another. its easy cut too much too haha. and if your making a cage to fit a certain class really read the rules. i have a buddy with a 1.5" cage, kinda sad its not legal for anything hes gonna use the car for.

Marcus

 

Thanks for the advice Marcus. Keep the info coming


Modified by slvrslepr at 3:48 PM 4/24/2008

 

What are you building the cage for? You need to be very well versed in the sanctioned rules for cages based on what point you want, certification, material, sizes, etc.

I have a midamerican 90degree tubing bender with a hydrolic hand pump. It is a vertical hydrolic unit that comes standard with your choice of 4 dies. I chose this unit cause it takes up very little space when it comes to storage, is mobile so you can put it where you want, and doesn't take up much space when you are using it also. I was looking at the JD2 bender but you have to get a stand and have a place to mount it then you are swinging around 15' of tubing, blah blah blah it's a headache.

http://www.midamericanonline.c...popup

I also have midamericans notcher which works great. You will want a lot of spare stuff levels, clamps, blah blah blah

All my cages I design in Autocad 2008 before I even purchase the tubing. I have used the bend-tech software but I think it is very poorly written and is crude to say the least. I wrote a couple macro's in autocad so it's all quick and easy for me.

Tubing can get very expensive ranging from $4.00 a foot to $11.00 a foot shipped.

I have an MK3 supra and an MK4 supra being dropped off this weekend that I will be putting cages in. The MK3 is getting a 6pt chromoly cage with swing-outs and the mk4 is getting a 10pt chromoly cage with swing-outs and a chute. I can update with renderings and pictures of the process if you would like.

 

Thanks for the info. I would love to see some of your work.

 

Hey,, Check out http://www.careybender.com they have a great question area, as well as purchasing your own bender at an affordable price!