Years ago, I discovered that I needed a way to bend pocket clips. I wanted to make 180 degree bends in titanium, and they needed to be repeatable. At first, I hired out the job. I wasn’t ecstatic about the results, or the fact that I was passing off what should be a reasonably simple task.
So, I made a bender that would do the job. I learned from it, and made a better one. A bunch of folks wanted one, so I made a bunch more.
I learned from that as well, and made a couple more improvements…
In the intervening years, I spent a lot of time making clips, and fought with making them all the same. I figured it out several years ago, using a ‘shuttle’ system, and have incorporated that ability into this iteration of the bender.
In it’s stock configuration, it’s a VERY capable bender. It’ll bend just about any shape you want, from just a couple of degrees, up to a full 180. You can bend directly around the 5/32 pin, or around the 1/2″ mandrel that is included. You can even make big, sweeping arks with the mandrel, and very little practice.
I’ve bent paper thin material, all the way up to .060″ titanium. For most clips, .040″ – .050″ is recommended. For 180 degree bends, I suggest .040″, as anything thicker tends to crack. Heat is also your friend. You aren’t going to make real extreme bends, in the 90 degree plus range, unless you take a torch to the material.
This thing is all steel, and replacement pins are a stock item at McMaster-Carr.
The price of the bender is $250, and you can get right to work with it. It’ll even come with a spare 5/32″ pin, and the 1/2″ mandrel.
If you want to do production work, I have the shuttles available at 4 for a hundred bucks. You’ll probably screw one up figuring out a system that works for YOUR clip, and once you do figure it out, you want to make a couple, so you don’t have to figure it out all over again the next time. I’ll also provide some dimensions to start at, and some pointers that I’ve learned over the years.
If you want me to make the shuttle for you, we need to talk. I’ll cost at least $200, though I’ll provide a couple of shuttles for that. I’ll need your CAD drawings, and a bunch of clips to experiment with. I’ve gotten pretty good at it though, and it usually doesn’t take me too many tries anymore. You might want to work with me before you have the parts blanked out, to see if I think it will work. I recently had a buddy send me several hundred to bend, and well, his design didn’t work out too well as it was, but with very minor changes, would have worked great!
