On Mon, 30 Mar 2026 13:22:47 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:
On 3/30/2026 1:02 PM, joegwinn@comcast.net wrote:
On Mon, 30 Mar 2026 11:46:49 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:
On 3/30/2026 6:58 AM, joegwinn@comcast.net wrote:
On Sun, 29 Mar 2026 21:24:13 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:
Is this going to be an exercise in futility? Or, just one of careful >>>>>> practice? (Ideally, something like a 4" radius)
It may require a vey long handle to bend 1" that sharply.
The conduit will want to collapse and/or kink, so packing it solid
with sand and capping it at both ends before bending is likely
necessary.
Yeah, a colleague sent me a one word reply: "Don't" <frown>
EMT is "do-able" at 1 inch. The effort required for IMC
would probably be more than I'm willing to invest -- without
a hydraulic bender to fall back on.
I will explore other -- less obvious -- options.
Probably one can simply buy pre-bent conners and screw them together.
I looked at that -- even going so far as to use ells. But, it ends
up looking like something pieced together and bulky/chunky.
IMC with a really tight bend radius would have fit the bill nicely.
I can try EMT with a Hickey instead of a bender and see how that
fares... Paint to make it "look pretty"
Yes. May still need to fill with packed sand and plug the ends solid
to bend without kinks and wrinkles.
On 3/30/2026 2:46 PM, Don Y wrote:
On 3/30/2026 6:58 AM, joegwinn@comcast.net wrote:
On Sun, 29 Mar 2026 21:24:13 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:
Is this going to be an exercise in futility?-a Or, just one of careful >>>> practice?-a-a (Ideally, something like a 4" radius)
It may require a vey long handle to bend 1" that sharply.
The conduit will want to collapse and/or kink, so packing it solid
with sand and capping it at both ends before bending is likely
necessary.
Yeah, a colleague sent me a one word reply:-a "Don't"-a <frown>
+1
See: https://www.mikeholt.com/documents/freestuff/Hand_bending_conduit_and_tubing_by_Bill_Bamford.pdf
On 3/30/2026 2:57 PM, ehsjr wrote:
On 3/30/2026 2:46 PM, Don Y wrote:
On 3/30/2026 6:58 AM, joegwinn@comcast.net wrote:
On Sun, 29 Mar 2026 21:24:13 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:
Is this going to be an exercise in futility?a Or, just one of careful >>>>> practice?aa (Ideally, something like a 4" radius)
It may require a vey long handle to bend 1" that sharply.
The conduit will want to collapse and/or kink, so packing it solid
with sand and capping it at both ends before bending is likely
necessary.
Yeah, a colleague sent me a one word reply:a "Don't"a <frown>
+1
See:
https://www.mikeholt.com/documents/freestuff/Hand_bending_conduit_and_tubing_by_Bill_Bamford.pdf
I've a fair bit of experience with EMT (up to an inch) and IMC (half inch).
But, with those, I have usually been looking for a channel for a cable; >appearances only had to be "standard of workmanship". So, a saddle didn't >have to be perfectly symmetrical, a Hickey could leave chew marks, etc.
And, most times, you could just use a bender (because you WANTED/needed
the gentle arc for cable pulls).
I *just* want this to "look nice" -- EMT looks like crap and rigid (while great
looking) is just way to hard to handle! It's just "a bent pipe" (no wires >inside)
PVC is too flimsy (though maybe if I *fill* it to get extra strength
and stability...)
On Mon, 30 Mar 2026 20:52:40 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:
On 3/30/2026 2:57 PM, ehsjr wrote:
On 3/30/2026 2:46 PM, Don Y wrote:
On 3/30/2026 6:58 AM, joegwinn@comcast.net wrote:
On Sun, 29 Mar 2026 21:24:13 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:
Is this going to be an exercise in futility?-a Or, just one of careful >>>>>> practice?-a-a (Ideally, something like a 4" radius)
It may require a vey long handle to bend 1" that sharply.
The conduit will want to collapse and/or kink, so packing it solid
with sand and capping it at both ends before bending is likely
necessary.
Yeah, a colleague sent me a one word reply:-a "Don't"-a <frown>
+1
See:
https://www.mikeholt.com/documents/freestuff/Hand_bending_conduit_and_tubing_by_Bill_Bamford.pdf
I've a fair bit of experience with EMT (up to an inch) and IMC (half inch). >>
But, with those, I have usually been looking for a channel for a cable;
appearances only had to be "standard of workmanship". So, a saddle didn't >> have to be perfectly symmetrical, a Hickey could leave chew marks, etc.
And, most times, you could just use a bender (because you WANTED/needed
the gentle arc for cable pulls).
I *just* want this to "look nice" -- EMT looks like crap and rigid (while great
looking) is just way to hard to handle!
It's just "a bent pipe" (no wires inside)
PVC is too flimsy (though maybe if I *fill* it to get extra strength
and stability...)
Last year, I did some work on my house that involved replacing some
rat damaged old Romex wiring under the house. To save labor, we used aluminum MC (metal clad) cable: <https://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-12-3-x-100-ft-Solid-CU-MC-Metal-Clad-Armorlite-Cable-68583423/202316493>
<https://www.southwire.com/wire-cable/metal-clad-cable/c/c-mcmain>
Note that 12/3 means three #12 AWG wires plus a 4th green ground wire.
The wires were all copper with no CCA (copper clad aluminum) allowed.
I initially wanted to use EMT. Because I was paying by the hour for
the work, I determined that MC cable was cheaper than EMT. Ignoring
my prep work and cleanup, it took 3 workers only about 6 hrs to
complete the job. EMT would have taken twice as long or more. EMT
would have looked much nicer, but I didn't want to pay for good looks.
Another nice thing about using flex cable. If I make a mistake and
need to move the conduit, it's much easier with flex than with
anything that requires a pipe bender to move.
On 3/30/2026 10:21 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Mon, 30 Mar 2026 20:52:40 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:
On 3/30/2026 2:57 PM, ehsjr wrote:
On 3/30/2026 2:46 PM, Don Y wrote:
On 3/30/2026 6:58 AM, joegwinn@comcast.net wrote:
On Sun, 29 Mar 2026 21:24:13 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:
Is this going to be an exercise in futility?a Or, just one of careful >>>>>>> practice?aa (Ideally, something like a 4" radius)
It may require a vey long handle to bend 1" that sharply.
The conduit will want to collapse and/or kink, so packing it solid >>>>>> with sand and capping it at both ends before bending is likely
necessary.
Yeah, a colleague sent me a one word reply:a "Don't"a <frown>
+1
See:
https://www.mikeholt.com/documents/freestuff/Hand_bending_conduit_and_tubing_by_Bill_Bamford.pdf
I've a fair bit of experience with EMT (up to an inch) and IMC (half inch). >>>
But, with those, I have usually been looking for a channel for a cable;
appearances only had to be "standard of workmanship". So, a saddle didn't >>> have to be perfectly symmetrical, a Hickey could leave chew marks, etc.
And, most times, you could just use a bender (because you WANTED/needed
the gentle arc for cable pulls).
I *just* want this to "look nice" -- EMT looks like crap and rigid (while great
looking) is just way to hard to handle!
It's just "a bent pipe" (no wires inside)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
PVC is too flimsy (though maybe if I *fill* it to get extra strength
and stability...)
Last year, I did some work on my house that involved replacing some
rat damaged old Romex wiring under the house. To save labor, we used
aluminum MC (metal clad) cable:
<https://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-12-3-x-100-ft-Solid-CU-MC-Metal-Clad-Armorlite-Cable-68583423/202316493>
<https://www.southwire.com/wire-cable/metal-clad-cable/c/c-mcmain>
Note that 12/3 means three #12 AWG wires plus a 4th green ground wire.
The wires were all copper with no CCA (copper clad aluminum) allowed.
I initially wanted to use EMT. Because I was paying by the hour for
the work, I determined that MC cable was cheaper than EMT. Ignoring
my prep work and cleanup, it took 3 workers only about 6 hrs to
complete the job. EMT would have taken twice as long or more. EMT
would have looked much nicer, but I didn't want to pay for good looks.
How many people would see it "under the house"?
Another nice thing about using flex cable. If I make a mistake and
need to move the conduit, it's much easier with flex than with
anything that requires a pipe bender to move.
I'm not using it as "wire carrying conduit" but, rather, as "metal pipe". >And, even the "metal" aspect is negotiable.
I want to make a support member and it is easier to bend pipe than square >stock or angle. And, where visible, pipe *looks* nicer.
On 3/30/2026 2:57 PM, ehsjr wrote:
See:
https://www.mikeholt.com/documents/freestuff/Hand_bending_conduit_and_tubing_by_Bill_Bamford.pdf
I've a fair bit of experience with EMT (up to an inch) and IMC (half inch).
But, with those, I have usually been looking for a channel for a cable; >>>> appearances only had to be "standard of workmanship". So, a saddle didn't >>>> have to be perfectly symmetrical, a Hickey could leave chew marks, etc. >>>>
And, most times, you could just use a bender (because you WANTED/needed >>>> the gentle arc for cable pulls).
I *just* want this to "look nice" -- EMT looks like crap and rigid (while great
looking) is just way to hard to handle!
It's just "a bent pipe" (no wires inside)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Another nice thing about using flex cable. If I make a mistake and
need to move the conduit, it's much easier with flex than with
anything that requires a pipe bender to move.
I'm not using it as "wire carrying conduit" but, rather, as "metal pipe".
And, even the "metal" aspect is negotiable.
Sorry. I wrongly assumed you were using electrical conduit for its originally intended purpose. I find it rather difficult to discuss
the selection of such things without knowing what you plan to do with
it.
I want to make a support member and it is easier to bend pipe than square
stock or angle. And, where visible, pipe *looks* nicer.
You want the pipe to support the weight of something yet be flexible
enough to be deformed by an electricians conduit bender. Unless
whatever you're supporting is fairly light, using EMT conduit, which
can be fairly easily bent, seems to be a little risky.
I made that mistake in the 1960's. My father owned a lingerie factory
in Smog Angeles. I was volunteered to build and install some 10ft
garment hangers that were suspended from the ceiling. I used 3/4" EMT conduit, because we had some left over from another project and it was
easy to bend the ends (to prevent the hangers and garments from
sliding off the end of the conduit). It worked well for light weight garments, but the pipe bent when someone decided to hang some heavy
garments. I had to take it down, straighten the EMT, add additional
chain hangers, and put every back up. Larger EMT might have worked,
but adding more support points was easier.
On Mon, 30 Mar 2026 23:05:22 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:
On 3/30/2026 10:21 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Mon, 30 Mar 2026 20:52:40 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:
On 3/30/2026 2:57 PM, ehsjr wrote:
On 3/30/2026 2:46 PM, Don Y wrote:
On 3/30/2026 6:58 AM, joegwinn@comcast.net wrote:
On Sun, 29 Mar 2026 21:24:13 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:
Is this going to be an exercise in futility?-a Or, just one of careful >>>>>>>> practice?-a-a (Ideally, something like a 4" radius)
It may require a vey long handle to bend 1" that sharply.
The conduit will want to collapse and/or kink, so packing it solid >>>>>>> with sand and capping it at both ends before bending is likely
necessary.
Yeah, a colleague sent me a one word reply:-a "Don't"-a <frown>
+1
See:
https://www.mikeholt.com/documents/freestuff/Hand_bending_conduit_and_tubing_by_Bill_Bamford.pdf
I've a fair bit of experience with EMT (up to an inch) and IMC (half inch).
But, with those, I have usually been looking for a channel for a cable; >>>> appearances only had to be "standard of workmanship". So, a saddle didn't >>>> have to be perfectly symmetrical, a Hickey could leave chew marks, etc. >>>>
And, most times, you could just use a bender (because you WANTED/needed >>>> the gentle arc for cable pulls).
I *just* want this to "look nice" -- EMT looks like crap and rigid (while great
looking) is just way to hard to handle!
It's just "a bent pipe" (no wires inside)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
PVC is too flimsy (though maybe if I *fill* it to get extra strength
and stability...)
Last year, I did some work on my house that involved replacing some
rat damaged old Romex wiring under the house. To save labor, we used
aluminum MC (metal clad) cable:
<https://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-12-3-x-100-ft-Solid-CU-MC-Metal-Clad-Armorlite-Cable-68583423/202316493>
<https://www.southwire.com/wire-cable/metal-clad-cable/c/c-mcmain>
Note that 12/3 means three #12 AWG wires plus a 4th green ground wire.
The wires were all copper with no CCA (copper clad aluminum) allowed.
I initially wanted to use EMT. Because I was paying by the hour for
the work, I determined that MC cable was cheaper than EMT. Ignoring
my prep work and cleanup, it took 3 workers only about 6 hrs to
complete the job. EMT would have taken twice as long or more. EMT
would have looked much nicer, but I didn't want to pay for good looks.
How many people would see it "under the house"?
None. That's why I don't care about appearances. However, that
doesn't mean that I installed the MC cable with long drooping spans,
sloppy routing, and knots to take up slack. NEC requires the cable be supported every 4 ft when exposed to potential damage and every 6 ft
when hidden behind a wall. Also, the cable needs to be supported at
least 18 inches from a termination point. I bought too many hangers,
so I used a smaller spacing, which also looks nicer.
Another nice thing about using flex cable. If I make a mistake and
need to move the conduit, it's much easier with flex than with
anything that requires a pipe bender to move.
I'm not using it as "wire carrying conduit" but, rather, as "metal pipe".
And, even the "metal" aspect is negotiable.
Sorry. I wrongly assumed you were using electrical conduit for its originally intended purpose. I find it rather difficult to discuss
the selection of such things without knowing what you plan to do with
it.
I want to make a support member and it is easier to bend pipe than square
stock or angle. And, where visible, pipe *looks* nicer.
You want the pipe to support the weight of something yet be flexible
enough to be deformed by an electricians conduit bender. Unless
whatever you're supporting is fairly light, using EMT conduit, which
can be fairly easily bent, seems to be a little risky.
I made that mistake in the 1960's. My father owned a lingerie factory
in Smog Angeles. I was volunteered to build and install some 10ft
garment hangers that were suspended from the ceiling. I used 3/4" EMT conduit, because we had some left over from another project and it was
easy to bend the ends (to prevent the hangers and garments from
sliding off the end of the conduit). It worked well for light weight garments, but the pipe bent when someone decided to hang some heavy
garments. I had to take it down, straighten the EMT, add additional
chain hangers, and put every back up. Larger EMT might have worked,
but adding more support points was easier.
On 2026-03-31 12:24, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Mon, 30 Mar 2026 23:05:22 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:
On 3/30/2026 10:21 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Mon, 30 Mar 2026 20:52:40 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:
On 3/30/2026 2:57 PM, ehsjr wrote:
On 3/30/2026 2:46 PM, Don Y wrote:
On 3/30/2026 6:58 AM, joegwinn@comcast.net wrote:
On Sun, 29 Mar 2026 21:24:13 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:
Is this going to be an exercise in futility?a Or, just one of careful >>>>>>>>> practice?aa (Ideally, something like a 4" radius)
It may require a vey long handle to bend 1" that sharply.
The conduit will want to collapse and/or kink, so packing it solid >>>>>>>> with sand and capping it at both ends before bending is likely >>>>>>>> necessary.
Yeah, a colleague sent me a one word reply:a "Don't"a <frown>
+1
See:
https://www.mikeholt.com/documents/freestuff/Hand_bending_conduit_and_tubing_by_Bill_Bamford.pdf
I've a fair bit of experience with EMT (up to an inch) and IMC (half inch).
But, with those, I have usually been looking for a channel for a cable; >>>>> appearances only had to be "standard of workmanship". So, a saddle didn't
have to be perfectly symmetrical, a Hickey could leave chew marks, etc. >>>>>
And, most times, you could just use a bender (because you WANTED/needed >>>>> the gentle arc for cable pulls).
I *just* want this to "look nice" -- EMT looks like crap and rigid (while great
looking) is just way to hard to handle!
It's just "a bent pipe" (no wires inside)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
PVC is too flimsy (though maybe if I *fill* it to get extra strength >>>>> and stability...)
Last year, I did some work on my house that involved replacing some
rat damaged old Romex wiring under the house. To save labor, we used
aluminum MC (metal clad) cable:
<https://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-12-3-x-100-ft-Solid-CU-MC-Metal-Clad-Armorlite-Cable-68583423/202316493>
<https://www.southwire.com/wire-cable/metal-clad-cable/c/c-mcmain>
Note that 12/3 means three #12 AWG wires plus a 4th green ground wire. >>>> The wires were all copper with no CCA (copper clad aluminum) allowed.
I initially wanted to use EMT. Because I was paying by the hour for
the work, I determined that MC cable was cheaper than EMT. Ignoring
my prep work and cleanup, it took 3 workers only about 6 hrs to
complete the job. EMT would have taken twice as long or more. EMT
would have looked much nicer, but I didn't want to pay for good looks.
How many people would see it "under the house"?
None. That's why I don't care about appearances. However, that
doesn't mean that I installed the MC cable with long drooping spans,
sloppy routing, and knots to take up slack. NEC requires the cable be
supported every 4 ft when exposed to potential damage and every 6 ft
when hidden behind a wall. Also, the cable needs to be supported at
least 18 inches from a termination point. I bought too many hangers,
so I used a smaller spacing, which also looks nicer.
Another nice thing about using flex cable. If I make a mistake and
need to move the conduit, it's much easier with flex than with
anything that requires a pipe bender to move.
I'm not using it as "wire carrying conduit" but, rather, as "metal pipe". >>> And, even the "metal" aspect is negotiable.
Sorry. I wrongly assumed you were using electrical conduit for its
originally intended purpose. I find it rather difficult to discuss
the selection of such things without knowing what you plan to do with
it.
I want to make a support member and it is easier to bend pipe than square >>> stock or angle. And, where visible, pipe *looks* nicer.
You want the pipe to support the weight of something yet be flexible
enough to be deformed by an electricians conduit bender. Unless
whatever you're supporting is fairly light, using EMT conduit, which
can be fairly easily bent, seems to be a little risky.
I made that mistake in the 1960's. My father owned a lingerie factory
in Smog Angeles. I was volunteered to build and install some 10ft
garment hangers that were suspended from the ceiling. I used 3/4" EMT
conduit, because we had some left over from another project and it was
easy to bend the ends (to prevent the hangers and garments from
sliding off the end of the conduit). It worked well for light weight
garments, but the pipe bent when someone decided to hang some heavy
garments. I had to take it down, straighten the EMT, add additional
chain hangers, and put every back up. Larger EMT might have worked,
but adding more support points was easier.
Not sure I want to know what heavy lingerie would be like.
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
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