I have a couple of these benders at work and I love them. The fellow that taught in my shop before me said they were there when he took the program over 22 years ago. I would like to purchase more of them, but nobody seems to know who made them. Any ideas? The base is cast and the pins are mild steel.

I don't know who made them and those I've seen have been reasonably old, so chances of finding new may be slim. It would be simple enough to make from a piece of flat stock, a cut of round bar, three small pieces of rod and a journey to the drill press.

Looks really easy to bang out using some 3/4" or 1" plate and a drill press.

 

If you have a local high school or votech school with a machining program, you might stop by and talk to the instructor. Many times these guys are dying for projects to have the kids do. I can see making this really nice if some one had a mill. Chamfer the edges, counter bore the hold down points and drill, drill and tap for the fixed post and locate and drill for the pin locations. Then they could drill the center round. Supply the material and maybe do a demo for the class to compensate them for the work.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Actually, I was thinking about making it into a project for my high school students to make. I tried selling it to them today but they can't see why one would need a bender. I grabbed one of the ones I had at school and showed it to them. I told them how great and simple the design is and that they could use it to make all kinds of things. Then I clamped it in a vise and bent a couple of s hooks. Some of the kids told me it was cool and others told me that they could just buy the hooks why would they need a bender.

The bottom plate looks cast?  Perhaps a cruise thru the old issues of Hammer's Blow or Anvil's Ring might have a clue to someone who was making these back in the day.