Conduit bending guides
How to bend every common offset, saddle, 90 and kick, with the math behind it and a worked example for each.
The basics
- Trigonometry for bendingMultipliers, shrink per inch, and the triangle behind every offset.
- Centerline radius, gain and deductWhat the shoe’s radius does to every mark, and why the numbers differ from a multiplier chart.
- Bender typesHand, mechanical, electric and hydraulic benders, their shoes, and the conduit they take.
- Bending on centersMarking for the arrow or for the middle of the bend, shoe center marks, and flipping a mark.
Offsets
- Bending an offsetTwo equal bends that move a run sideways around something in its way.
- Bending a rolling offsetAn offset that moves the conduit up and over at the same time.
- Bending parallel offsetsA bank of offsets that keep the same spacing through the bends.
- Matching bends offsetFind the angle of an offset that is already bent, so you can bend one to match.
- Matching centers offsetOffsets of different heights whose bends line up along the run.
Saddles
90s and kicks
- Bending a 90° stub-upA single 90° bend that brings the conduit up to a set height.
- Bending a kick with a 90A 90 with a shallow bend in its leg, at right angles to it, that moves the stub sideways.
- Parallel kicksA bank of conduits kicked together toward a wall that runs alongside them.
- Parallel kicks forwardA bank of conduits kicked toward a wall square to the run, each with its own kick.
- Matching bend kickFind the angle of a kick that is already bent, and the mark to bend one like it.
- Matching center kickKicks of different sizes whose bends line up along the run.
Compound and segmented 90s
- Compound 90° around a round obstructionTwo 45° bends that cut across a corner in front of a pipe or tank.
- Compound 90° around a square obstructionTwo 45° bends that cut across a corner in front of a square obstruction set diagonally.
- Compound 90° around a rectangular obstructionTwo 45° bends that cut across a corner in front of a box or cabinet.
- Bending a segmented 90°A big, sweeping 90 made from several small bends.