BendPak BB-2 Blue-Bullet Pipe Bender with Metric Tooling Package

This is BendPak's manual Blue-Bullet exhaust bender, supplied here in the metric tooling configuration. The sensible place to start is the frame, because the frame is what decides whether a bender still lays down a clean bend in year eight: a rigid 6 in. x 6 in. x 3/8 in. welded-steel tube structure, a one-piece barrel that holds the bending gates in line with the ram, and a top cylinder rated at 60,000 lbs. (27,216 kg) of force. Everything else on the machine hangs off those three things.

It is built for a shop that bends pipe as a service rather than as an occasional favour: muffler and exhaust bays, custom fabrication benches, fleet garages that build their own tailpipes, restoration shops reproducing systems that nobody stocks any more. Because the bender carries two end-finishing units at the rear, one operator can take a length of raw tube through bending, swaging, expanding and flaring at a single station instead of walking a part between machines.

Will It Fit?

The footprint is modest for the work it does. BendPak's sheet lists a width of 42 in. (1,067 mm) and a depth of 62 in. (1,575 mm), plus a third figure of 31 in. (787 mm). Worth flagging honestly: that sheet labels both 62 in. and 31 in. as Depth, while our own product record stores 31 in. (787 mm) as the overall height. If a few inches decide whether the machine clears a bench run or a roll-up door, ask us to confirm against the current factory drawing before you order rather than working from the table below.

Power is 208-230 VAC, 60 Hz, single phase, turning a 5 HP motor through a direct-drive 4 gpm pump. That is a hard-wired circuit, not a wall socket, and it is the item to settle with an electrician before delivery day rather than after. Industrial-grade casters are fitted so the bender can be repositioned once it is inside, but it still arrives crated at 1,364 lbs. — plan the route in, not just the parking spot. Leave working room at the rear for the end-finishing units and at the side for tube longer than the part you are forming.

Bending capacity and radius

Maximum tube capacity is 3 in. (76 mm) in .095 wall. Bends run on a maximum radius of 5 in. (127 mm) and a minimum radius of 3.3 in. (89 mm), and a 180° bending die is available if you need a full U-turn rather than the deep bends the standard dies produce.

Radius matters more than most buyers expect because of what happens inside the tube. BendPak's dies use a relief-cut profile that keeps the pipe supported through the whole cycle, so the bend comes out uniform instead of crimping on the inner wall — and a crimped bend is a measurable restriction in a system whose job is to move gas. Bending heads are precision-ground to within .002 in. and the dies are heat-treated, which is what keeps that profile consistent after a few thousand cycles rather than a few hundred. Quick-release twist-lock tooling makes the die change fast, and the pass-through cylinder stem runs completely through the primary frame, so the ram retracts clear for a change or to pull a finished part out.

End finishing at the same station

Two separate end-finishing units sit at the rear of the machine: a high-speed clampless swager and an internal segment expander. Between them they cover I.D. and O.D. expansions, slip-fits, flares, ball-joints and manifold flanges. The swager takes a drop-in collar rather than a conventional vise, which is quicker to set and — because the collar grips harder as pressure rises — less prone to slipping mid-form. The open-sided swager box is a small design choice with a real payoff: it gives you room to get the tool in and out without crashing tooling into the cylinder.

Hydraulics are commercial-grade throughout: 2.5 in. oversized barrel shafts, an over-sized 1/2 in. high-pressure hose, a canister filter, sight-gauges and a large reservoir that keeps fluid cooler on a long run. Pressure gauges sit on the face of the machine and the pressure valve adjusts from the front.

About the metric tooling package

One thing we will not guess at. This listing is titled as the metric tooling package, but the specification block on this page lists the standard 302 die pack in imperial sizes — 1.5 in., 1.625 in., 1.75 in., 2 in., 2.25 in. and 2.5 in. — and the feature list states that the BB-1 tooling package is included. We cannot reconcile those from the data we hold, and inventing a set of metric die sizes to fill the gap would be worse than saying so. Tell us the tube sizes you actually bend and we will confirm exactly which dies ship with this configuration before your order is placed.

Perfect For

• Exhaust and muffler shops building systems to order, where die-change time is the constraint on throughput.
• Custom fabrication and race shops needing repeatable bends and OE-quality expansions and flares from one machine.
• Fleet, municipal and agricultural garages that would rather bend a replacement pipe than wait on a part number.
• Restoration specialists reproducing systems for vehicles nobody supplies tubing for.

It is not a hobby machine. If you bend a handful of pipes a year, this is more bender than the job needs.

What's in the Box

• BB-1 tooling package
• Quick-release bending dies and finishing dies
• High-speed clampless swager and internal expander
• Drop-in swaging collar
• Integrated power-relief control valve and adjustable pressure valve
• Pressure gauges, oil sight-gauges and canister oil filter
• Tool trays and industrial-grade casters
• NEMA-rated on/off switch box with overload relays

A 180° bending die is available separately, as are additional die sizes.

Specifications

Standards, stated plainly

The one standard the manufacturer's data claims here is a component one: every cylinder uses chrome-molly shafts conforming to ANSI 92.2. That is a shaft and materials specification, not a machine-level third-party safety listing, and we will not present it as one. The NEMA-rated switch box with overload relays is a real electrical protection feature and, likewise, not a listing. If your insurer, landlord or local authority requires a specific machine-level approval, tell us the wording and we will check it against BendPak's documentation before you commit.

Shipping and delivery

This ships as freight to the lower 48 states, crated at 1,364 lbs., free of charge. You need to take the crate off the truck — forklift, loading dock or a booked rigger — or collect it from the freight terminal, often the simplest option for a machine this size. Residential delivery is available and carries a fee. Warehouse pickup can be arranged; the BendPak pickup locations are listed further down this page — call us to set it up.

Inspect the crate before you sign. Note damage on the bill of lading with the driver present — a clean signature makes a freight claim very hard to win afterwards, and photographs taken on the dock cost nothing.

Warranty

BendPak publishes one warranty document that covers its full product line rather than a term printed per model, so we are not going to quote a number of years here that the paperwork might not support. Ask us and we will send you the current document for this machine before you order. One thing that applies whatever the term says: do not disassemble a component you intend to claim on. Stripping a cylinder or a pump to diagnose it yourself is the most common way a valid claim gets refused. Call us first and we will tell you what the manufacturer needs to see.

Contact us for more information on Bendpack metric tooling package options.