: Allan

: I hope you didn't take my comments as criticism. I'm sure you know
: what you're doing. I go to great lengths to 'grandson' proof my
: shop, and something like that 'tingles the spider sense'. I does
: look like a great rig for bending strips.

: Kirk

Absolutely no offence taken Kirk, the warning regarding the wiring was entirely appropriate, and I should have mentioned the issue earlier. Somehow, I got focused on the bending rather than the wiring, and I just forgot to mention the safety issue. Anyway, I am glad that you fellows caught it and raised the alert.

If I had grandkids around, you can bet that the setup would have been different.

And yes, it is a good tool, it does a great job. The strips relax very nicely when heated from both sides, and you can achieve quite significant twists and bends simultaneously with it. I hope that anyone interested is not discouraged too much by the wiring issues. They can be sorted one way or another, and the end result will be a tool that works well. Again, a gfci outlet is a good idea whenever fooling with this sort of homebuilt tool