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Automatic Rebar Tying Tools
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| The Construction Innovation Forum presented two of its NOVA Awards in April, including one awarded to two different companies for automatic rebar tying tools. Max Co.’s (Max USA in the United States) Rebar Tier and Japan Automatic Machine Co.’s (a division of Toyojamco) U-Tier have revolutionized how rebar is fastened into position. Both tools accomplish the same thing?wrapping, twisting, and cutting off tie wire to securely tie bars together in less than a second with the pull of a trigger. |
| Max’s three models vary in tying capacity with the smallest (the RB213) making three wraps of 21-gauge wire to fasten up to two #7 bars, and the new RB650 making one wrap of 16-gauge wire to tie up to #8x#10 bars. The RB650 was recognized by our sister publication Concrete Construction as one of the Most Innovative Products of this year’s World of Concrete show. All of the tools are cordless and take 30 to 40 minutes to recharge their batteries. You’ll get about 120 ties from a roll of wire (specially made by Max for their tools), and there is an extension handle that makes it possible for the worker to tie bar (or mesh) for a slab without bending over. Maintenance is minimal on these tools, which weigh 7.7 pounds. Prices for Max tiers start at around $2,150. |
The U-Tier has two configurations: a long, vertical model for tying bars for slabs without the worker having to bend down, and a short, horizontal model for steel in walls and columns. Each unit weighs about 7 pounds. Both models are equipped with one of four different guides, or jaws, that tie various sizes of bars up to two #10s. Priced as low as $1,300, the U-Tier uses proprietary 18-gauge ties, wrapping the intersection two times. The company claims that although their ties are about 1.7 cents each (as opposed to about one-half cent each for conventional ties) the time needed to make a tie is reduced by one-third. |
Those tough guys who spend their days cutting, bending, and positioning rebar aren’t called “rodbusters” for nothing. Using a hickey to make 90-degree bends, crouching over tying wire with a spring-return tying tool, and cutting bars with a torch or cut-off saw?it’s hard physical labor. But the newest power rebar tools are making the life of the rodbuster, and anyone else who has to configure and place concrete reinforcing steel, safer and much less taxing.
While the large bending and cutting machines used in fabricating shops have long been available, some of the newer tools are smaller and lighter in weight, making them easy to transport to the field. Some can even be used on embedded bars. Both corded and cordless benders, cutters, and combination benders/cutters are now light enough to carry around all day.
Selecting Rebar Tools
To decide what type of tools you might need for reinforcing steel and if you should buy them, answer a few simple questions:
What size bars will you be working with? Bigger bars require larger, less portable equipment. “If you only need to cut and bend # 8s occasionally,” says Fascut’s Frank Olah, “get the smaller, less cumbersome equipment.”
How much steel are you placing? The more rebar bending and cutting you do, the better?and faster?you’ll want the equipment to be. Many bench cutters and benders that can handle larger bars also can cut or bend several smaller bars at once, speeding up production.
Do you want separate tools for cutting and bending or a combination tool? Combination tools are typically heavier for a given bar capacity than tools that cut or bend only. Combination tools for bar sizes greater than #5 are normally bench units that weigh more than 100 pounds. “A #5 is about the largest bar you can bend and cut by hand,” says Benner-Nawman’s Mel Kientz. “Beyond that you’ll need some sort of power tools.”
How many and what size bars will you cut? Rebar has traditionally been cut on site with a torch or cut-off saw?or even bolt cutters. But each of these techniques actually changes the molecular structure of the steel. The best tools, cutters that use square blocks as jaws, actually shear or break the bar, leaving the strength of the bars unaltered. Some of these cutters can be used easily on bars as large as #10, even with Grade 60 steel. (The bar size number of reinforcing steel refers to the number of eighths of an inch in diameter so that a #6 bar is 6/8 (or 3/4) inch in diameter. The grade of steel relates to its specified minimum yield strength used in design so that a Grade 60 steel has a specified yield strength in tension of 60,000 pounds per square inch.) Most cutting tools have cutting blocks that rotate so that they can be changed to a new edge eight times before replacement.
Are the tools you’re considering really up for the job? “Some manufacturers will say that their benders and cutters will work with #6 bars,” notes Brad Rozema of EZE Bend, “but make sure they can consistently cut or bend Grade 60 steel.” Grade 40 is typical for residential construction while Grade 60 is more common on commercial jobs.
Do you want corded or cordless tools? “Cordless tools are a niche market,” says Olah. “It’s not a do-all piece of equipment, but if you’re in a place where it’s hard to get power, the cordless units are great. We’ve sold a lot of cordless units to the New York City Fire Department that uses them to cut the security bars off windows in the city. A bunch of them were used during the World Trade Center rescue.”
Do you really need portable handheld tools? Most handheld tools are cutters only and many benders and cutters (even those that are called “portable”) are quite heavy?as much as 400 pounds. The models in the 200-pound range often come with handles for setup on the jobsite, or they can be moved with a loader or mounted onto a trailer that is often also set up to transport steel to the job.
Larger machines can bend precisely to a pre-set bend angle and are better for bending longer bars since they use a rotary table bending system where only one end of the bar moves during the bending operation. Portable handheld tools, on the other hand, “open doors that were not open in the past,” says Rozema, “since their portability allows bending right on the spot and also of pre-embedded bars. This dramatically reduces the materials needed, since it’s easier to bend bars [than it is to use] mechanical couplers or splice-in short bent sections.”
Manufacturers
Here’s a roundup of offerings from the different manufacturers of bending and cutting tools.
Benner-Nawman: Benner-Nawman carries the industry’s most extensive line of bending and cutting tools. Most tools are electric/hydraulic, using hydraulic power to actually drive the cutting heads. “The electric/hydraulic system keeps the power requirements to 12 amps,” says Benner-Nawman’s Mel Kientz. B-N’s tools are simple, easily serviceable, and reliable. They carry both corded and cordless handheld cutters, and bench-mounted benders.
EZE Bend: This company’s clever system has three different heads (two benders and one cutter) that connect to a Simplex hydraulic pump. Taking the hydraulic pump out of the handheld part of the tool results in a tool that is much lighter. The worker carries only the heads, which connect to the hydraulic pump via a 25-foot hose. Both the push-bender head (at 12 pounds) and the pull-bender head (at 18 pounds) have a capacity up to #6, Grade 60 bars, although a set of heads for #8 bars is in development. Another innovation, introduced at this year’s World of Concrete trade show in Las Vegas, is EZE Bend’s shock absorber system for its cutters that prevents short pieces from flying off when cut. (World of Concrete is owned by Tools of the Trade’s parent company, Hanley Wood, LLC.)
Fascut Industries: The 14-pound Lobster lightweight rebar cutter comes in both corded and cordless versions for up to #5 bars. Fascut also has the 600 series (cutters, benders, and cutter/benders for up to #6 bars) that it claims is ideal for contractors setting up a jobsite rebar operation. It also offers the 800 series for up to #8 bars.
Gensco Equipment: The Novopress line of cutting and bending tools has a maximum capacity of #8 bars with several smaller models.
HIT Tools USA: This company makes a cordless cutter for smaller bars and corded handheld cutters for up to #11 bars. It also makes two models of a bench cutter/bender with capacity to #8 bars.
Hitachi Power Tools: The VB16Y is a 120-volt hand-held cutter/bender for up to #5, Grade 60 bars. The tool weighs 42 pounds, and it cuts in 3.1 seconds and bends in 5.1 seconds.
Multiquip: MQ makes benders and cutters with a maximum capacity of #8 bars. The single bender model is a bench-top unit while the cutters are corded (120-volt) handheld and bench units.
Pacific Benders: This company offers a complete line of benders in sizes from a small handheld model for in-place bending (the Jimmy, which is powered by a separate hydraulic pump), up to large rebar shop?production benders for up to #11 bars.
William D. Palmer Jr. is editor in chief of Concrete Construction, a sister publication of Hanley-Wood’s Tools of the Trade.
Sources of Supply
Benner-Nawman
928-684-2813
www.bnproducts.com
EZE Bend
800-665-7549
www.ezebendinc.com
Fascut Industries
608-643-6678
www.fascut.com
Gensco Equipment
800-268-6797
www.genscoequip.com
HIT Tools USA
909-974-0369
www.hittools.com
Hitachi
800-829-4752
www.hitachi.com
Max USA
800-223-4293
www.maxusacorp.com
Multiquip
800-421-1244
www.multiquip.com
Pacific Benders
800-654-6295
www.pacificbenders.com
U-Tier
915-595-8825, ext. 2223
www.u-tier.net