Hi everyone, I searched and didn’t find anything recent on this topic. I am looking at purchasing the Durston 11 piece ring shank bender with nylon dies or the Pepe Superior Ring Bending Tool. They both operate very similarly and both come with metal and plastic dies. The pepe with Delrin and the Durston with nylon. I am pretty tired of wrestling with thicker ring stock, so a different pliers is not a good option. What are your thoughts on these two ring benders? Thanks much.
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I have the Pepe one and I love it. Your right, I have the same problem struggling to bend that metal into ring form The additional thing I use it for is to provide the nice tight fit to solder it. You use the right size to bend the metal round. The seem is not yet tight for soldering after you bend it around. After you get it close, select the next smaller ring size half moon and put the seem opposite it in the bending unit and give it a little push and it snugs the seem tight.
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I make a lot of rings and have a variety of ring benders. My go-to these days is the Pepe. Hands down.
I was teaching a ring forging class in Chicago a few years ago and a student brought in a brand-new Durston. I was amazed that the milling on the dies was so poor, compared to the Pepe. She returned it and bought a Pepe.
I have been a long time fan of Durston. I have a D-158 mill that I’ve had for a long, long time and I wouldn’t trade it. It is my third Durston mill (sold the others as I upgraded). Their mills, in my experience, are great. But I’ve also had a Durston LED bench light. The quality of light is great, but it broke within a year. They replaced it but that failure, along with the ring bender experience, brought my faith in Durston down a bit.
Buy the Pepe.
Andy
I recommend the Durston Heavy Duty Ring shaft bender:
This type of bender comes highly recommended by Peter from Jewelry Training Solutions. I sometimes make heavy forged shanks and I have heard that the Pepe bender will not do heavy shanks.
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I have a Durston with a set of delrin inserts. The steel inserts cause some damage hence the delrin inserts. Seems to bend what I want to bend, which usually isn’t a ring. If I am making a ring, I will sometimes start the bend on the ring bender, but more often that not, I will bend or finish the bend on a ring mandrel and then close the joint with a rawhide mallet on my anvil, in a vise or with pliers depending on the size and weight of the stock…Rob
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hi,
…interesting…
it seems like…
the multi die sets from pepe and durston were designed to be used with dead soft metal, 1.0-1.25mm thickness and under…
whereas the heavier duty shank benders (without the dies) were designed to handle thicker shanks…durston link states 4mm, pepe has a similar heavy duty model, but i did not find a link with the max thickness mentioned
the below 3 contenti and fdjtool links include the note:
for use with dead soft metal, 1mm thickness or under
the below fdjools link for durston includes the note:
dead soft, 1.25mm thickness or less
it seems like this styles is for 1-1.25 mm thickness, and the
the link in the previous post for the heavy duty durston link notes up to 4mm thickness
julie
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I have the pepetools ring bender with the extra delrin components. It is a fabulous tool. I use it all the time
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I have the Pepe ring bender set and love it. Haven’t used the Durston but fellow silversmiths that I know who have the Durston also love it. So to me it comes down to price.
I love the Pepe bending tool mentioned. Really great!
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I have a Pepe ring bender and Love it. I did by the Derlin dies and I use 18 gauge for spinner rings and they form like butter. Also made in the USA
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I am pleased with either companies quality, I just bought the durston model recently. Dies are very nicely polished and It works well.
I struggled with the choice, in the end pepetools was sold out.
I will tell you I use the “heavy bender” by durston for thicker stuff and tend to use it most unless I am making something with double reverse bends etc.
I love the Pepe bending tool as well. I use it to form rings of 6 gauge half-round sterling silver and it works wonderfully!
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