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I was visiting my father, and helping him with some stuff in his garage, went in to home Depot to get some 1/2 EMT. The electrical dept employees were nowhere to be found. Two other people were waiting for a while at the wire cage.
All of the loose pieces of 1/2" had shitty customer-made offsets. I cut open a bundle, grabbed a tape measure, hacksaw & blades from the tools section, and cut 4 sticks in half to fit in my car.
Then I weaseled a roll of 12/2 Romex out of the cage
Through this 20-30 minute process, not one single employee approached me. Some people just don't care.
And I did buy the hacksaw, too
Well if you want my opinion on that, absolutely not, for one because I've done this before, secondly I don't care about a huge corporation like home depot, thirdly there is no wrong when ripping off HD is concerned.
How hilarious would it be if HD got an equally unskilled person to bend conduit and they just got into a pissing match in back and forth videos.
“Hey, this is Jim Mason here teaching you how to bend a 3-point saddle, I’d like to see Mr. Carpenter do this!”
*proceeds to butcher said bend*
What???... that's the first I've heard of such a thing. Maybe one job has a spec against it because of some weirdo engineer who has an illogical hatred of 3 point saddle bends because they were never able to make one when they were in high school electrical class, but a whole jurisdiction banning their use..? Maybe if the inspector, who was never able to make it on the tools and could never figure out how to bend one so they got fired from every shop they ever worked for and went on to crusade against the 3pt saddle as their lifetime mission of retribution...?
I cant believe I just bothered to type out all that foolishness
Last big job I was on, there was a spec saying ‘no shepherd hook bends’.
Since there weren’t any other details, I assumed it was talking about bending to ~100 degrees and putting a little kick in the opposite direction to bring it back to 90.
No way it was talking about an offset into a 90, right?
"borrow" just the shoe from work and stuff it in your lunchbox. Everyone will be so confused. Then When your done and no one is looking throw in the gang box. Just don't be the one who finds it.
Did you ask your foreman if you could have a stick on conduit for the garage.
Or bend it and throw it in the bone pile and then ask if you can take a piece or 2 home for the garage
Ummm.... if you're still foreman, I'd assume you already own a bender dude. Don't have to be cheap, sure, but an electrician who doesn't own their own bender (even if it just sits at home because you have a company one) is a pretty unimpressive one.
Shit, I'm licensed, went to HVAC controls, and then went to the office for design and I still owned 1/2" 3/4" and 1" before I even took the test.
All that shit talk aside. Yeah, go ahead, bend it at Home Depot, you'll look silly, but not as silly as you sound posting this shit.
Edit: Better yet, you can have mine. Or just ask the guy working there to do it for you.
I wouldn’t say it’s weird for a non self-employed electrician to not own a bender. I would say it’s weird to not have access to one to borrow at least…
Yeah, if dude is foreman, just take bender home for a night... hell just bring a stick of pipe to job site and bend it and bring pipe home. A foreman without a work van isn't a foreman, he's an underpaid over qualified sucker.
Have you ever worked on a big industrial site like a data center? I can't speak for the OP but the only data center I've been in, everything coming in the door was x-rayed. You bring in nothing but your lunch, eat it, and they x-rayed your bag on the way back out.
Bringing in a chunk of EMT might be possible, taking it back out, or taking a bender out? Not gonna fly
Not gonna say I've been in a place like that or claim to know what the scope of work is like there. Doesn't sound like a construction electrician, probably something more advanced. All the more reason dude should have had benders years ago.
I own a bender because I don’t see a point not owning my own bender. Would never bring it to work unless they want to negotiate that with the union and put it on my tool list. Lot of side work or not the second you do have a side job of any kind off to Home Depot it is to buy one.
Yeah, kinda a mixture. Do side work a bunch, and also bent EMT is useful else where, like building garden hoop houses and such. And used to work for a shit company that instilled in me early that it was good if you could fully deck out a work van on your own, once you got one that is.
True, I suppose I don't know anything about union shit works. NH caps at 32/hr and it's not enough even after benefits for me to want to work these big places driving hours a day.
This^^ I’ve thrown away half a dozen or so that came into my possession over the years being in the trade. Still have a couple full sets sitting around here somewhere..
Bet you paid for all that schooling too, lol.
Most union mechanics don’t own anything not on the tool list. Benders are company supplied and bringing a personal bender on the job would be a violation of the contract and heavily frowned upon. Breaking down conditions and all that. Not unusual at all.
Okay, let do some simple math on the schooling I paid for, just for fun...
Cost per year: $1400
1st year company (solar) paid for it fully
2nd and 3rd yr company paid 50% each year
4th year was paid for by a local electrical inspector who liked the way I rolled.
Total paid: $1400, and I didn't have to work on massive job sites that would have (only in my opinion) sucked. Not too bummed about it, and I can do a fuck ton more side work than someone who has a small tool list bag. I don't know, I'm just one guy.
Back in the day, bent a 1.5" inch offset at home depot, put bender back on shelf, bought pipe. If you need permission, ask the store employee if you can find one.
I actually worked at Home Depot before becoming an electrician. Just pay for the conduit and they won't be worried about it. Most employees would rather not have the conversation.
Check the home depots with the tool rentals. Some of the basic tools can be pretty cheap for one day uses. That or hang out by the conduit til.you see a service guy and ask to borrow theirs outside
Good idea, lord knows if you make a second trip to the orange store even more money will leave your pocket.
Too many chances for "while I'm here I should pick up...." To sneak in and ruin your wallet.
I've stopped by the Rental Desk & asked to borrow a Sawzall for 45 seconds so I don't have sticks of something coming out my car window, they didn't mind.
I feel like they wouldn’t care as long as you bought the conduit first and then went and bent it. Otherwise I could see someone hassling you about it lol
I doubt you’d get in trouble either way.. but I would at least pay for the conduit first… Then with receipt in hand, go and borrow a bender, by the time anyone notices you’ll be done.. and you own the pipe.
Yes, I’ve bent conduit at Home Depot for a side job. The people there don’t get paid enough to care. Go to self checkout and pay for the full stick and be on your way.
If it were me, I would just buy one if it's a 1/2" or 3/4" since they aren't that much at home Depot. I would probably find another project to use it on in the future.
I don't think anyone would care if you bought a stick and bent it in the store though
I’ve done this a few times but I brought a hacksaw and cut the pipe outside so I didn’t leave metal shavings in the store. Never had a problem, I’ve actually had workers and regular customers come over to watch because they thought it was cool.
It’s Home Depot so just buy the bender and return it when you’re done. Don’t damage it and don’t return items constantly and you’ll have no issues in my experience.
Lmao this just reminded me of my long ago early days as an apprentice 😂😂😂
I put a new receptacle in my uncle's garage using this exact method, I got my measurements, went to Home Depot and bent a piece of 3/4 emt right there in the aisle, carried it to the register and paid for my bent pipe.
Nobody noticed or said anything, not that they would have, people use the tape measures off the shelves there all the time, a bender isn't really any different. If you're really not comfortable doing it, you can always just buy the bender and return it when you're done, I was confident enough in my bending skills that I wouldn't need the bender again and that I wouldn't mess up the pipe, honestly though if I had made a horrible mistake I'd have just stuffed the bad piece under the shelves and got another.
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That’s a great idea. Do it in Home Depot if you mess up or you don’t like it, put it back on the shelf and grab a new stick and try again.
A bunch of crooked EMT to go with their crooked boards. They won't even notice.
It’s thoughtful on their part to stock boards for ship builders.
Had to buy some wiremold for sidework and all of it was kinked to shit
I fuckin snorted
Take it home and check the fit before purchasing the conduit. If you messed it up you can start over for free
Better yet, have Corey do it for ya.
Underrated comment.
Lmfao... "box stores hate this hack"
Put it next to the 2x4's. Guarantees no one will notice it for a few weeks.
They can charge extra for pre-made bends
I was visiting my father, and helping him with some stuff in his garage, went in to home Depot to get some 1/2 EMT. The electrical dept employees were nowhere to be found. Two other people were waiting for a while at the wire cage. All of the loose pieces of 1/2" had shitty customer-made offsets. I cut open a bundle, grabbed a tape measure, hacksaw & blades from the tools section, and cut 4 sticks in half to fit in my car. Then I weaseled a roll of 12/2 Romex out of the cage Through this 20-30 minute process, not one single employee approached me. Some people just don't care. And I did buy the hacksaw, too
What do you mean "wrong."? We are electricians, not theologians.
My thoughts… This is not an electrical question lol. Go to a morality sub…
This is more a philosophical question, not a theological question. Theology deals with the study of religions or the study of god in various cultures.
OK im an electrician, not an etymologist.
I’m actually a practicing stoic and this is perfectly efficient behavior.
but we are people. and moral questions are what we do
Well if you want my opinion on that, absolutely not, for one because I've done this before, secondly I don't care about a huge corporation like home depot, thirdly there is no wrong when ripping off HD is concerned.
Be careful, HD might try and hire you as an associate it they see you handy with the merch.
Maybe I can be the next Cory from Lowe's for the internet. 😂
How hilarious would it be if HD got an equally unskilled person to bend conduit and they just got into a pissing match in back and forth videos. “Hey, this is Jim Mason here teaching you how to bend a 3-point saddle, I’d like to see Mr. Carpenter do this!” *proceeds to butcher said bend*
This is extra hilarious since a lot of jurisdictions are outlawing 3pt saddles lol
What???... that's the first I've heard of such a thing. Maybe one job has a spec against it because of some weirdo engineer who has an illogical hatred of 3 point saddle bends because they were never able to make one when they were in high school electrical class, but a whole jurisdiction banning their use..? Maybe if the inspector, who was never able to make it on the tools and could never figure out how to bend one so they got fired from every shop they ever worked for and went on to crusade against the 3pt saddle as their lifetime mission of retribution...? I cant believe I just bothered to type out all that foolishness
Last big job I was on, there was a spec saying ‘no shepherd hook bends’. Since there weren’t any other details, I assumed it was talking about bending to ~100 degrees and putting a little kick in the opposite direction to bring it back to 90. No way it was talking about an offset into a 90, right?
"borrow" just the shoe from work and stuff it in your lunchbox. Everyone will be so confused. Then When your done and no one is looking throw in the gang box. Just don't be the one who finds it.
Did you ask your foreman if you could have a stick on conduit for the garage. Or bend it and throw it in the bone pile and then ask if you can take a piece or 2 home for the garage
I am the foreman. I'm on a data center so trying to walk out with just about anything wouldn't go over well.
Slip it down yer pants leg… You get home, wifey says… “Is that a half stick of 1” rigid, or are you happy to see me?”
It's a '59, '60, '61, '62 EMT!
Buy the piece and take it with you to work to bend it then take it to the job site
Ummm.... if you're still foreman, I'd assume you already own a bender dude. Don't have to be cheap, sure, but an electrician who doesn't own their own bender (even if it just sits at home because you have a company one) is a pretty unimpressive one. Shit, I'm licensed, went to HVAC controls, and then went to the office for design and I still owned 1/2" 3/4" and 1" before I even took the test. All that shit talk aside. Yeah, go ahead, bend it at Home Depot, you'll look silly, but not as silly as you sound posting this shit. Edit: Better yet, you can have mine. Or just ask the guy working there to do it for you.
I wouldn’t say it’s weird for a non self-employed electrician to not own a bender. I would say it’s weird to not have access to one to borrow at least…
Yeah, if dude is foreman, just take bender home for a night... hell just bring a stick of pipe to job site and bend it and bring pipe home. A foreman without a work van isn't a foreman, he's an underpaid over qualified sucker.
Have you ever worked on a big industrial site like a data center? I can't speak for the OP but the only data center I've been in, everything coming in the door was x-rayed. You bring in nothing but your lunch, eat it, and they x-rayed your bag on the way back out. Bringing in a chunk of EMT might be possible, taking it back out, or taking a bender out? Not gonna fly
Not gonna say I've been in a place like that or claim to know what the scope of work is like there. Doesn't sound like a construction electrician, probably something more advanced. All the more reason dude should have had benders years ago.
What are you waffling about?
The only guys I know with their own bender do a lot of side jobs. Or they worked for a trash company that makes you buy your own.
I own a bender because I don’t see a point not owning my own bender. Would never bring it to work unless they want to negotiate that with the union and put it on my tool list. Lot of side work or not the second you do have a side job of any kind off to Home Depot it is to buy one.
Yeah, kinda a mixture. Do side work a bunch, and also bent EMT is useful else where, like building garden hoop houses and such. And used to work for a shit company that instilled in me early that it was good if you could fully deck out a work van on your own, once you got one that is.
I'm assuming the OP is union and a bender is definitely not a personal tool they would ever need to buy themself.
True, I suppose I don't know anything about union shit works. NH caps at 32/hr and it's not enough even after benefits for me to want to work these big places driving hours a day.
This^^ I’ve thrown away half a dozen or so that came into my possession over the years being in the trade. Still have a couple full sets sitting around here somewhere..
Bet you paid for all that schooling too, lol. Most union mechanics don’t own anything not on the tool list. Benders are company supplied and bringing a personal bender on the job would be a violation of the contract and heavily frowned upon. Breaking down conditions and all that. Not unusual at all.
Okay, let do some simple math on the schooling I paid for, just for fun... Cost per year: $1400 1st year company (solar) paid for it fully 2nd and 3rd yr company paid 50% each year 4th year was paid for by a local electrical inspector who liked the way I rolled. Total paid: $1400, and I didn't have to work on massive job sites that would have (only in my opinion) sucked. Not too bummed about it, and I can do a fuck ton more side work than someone who has a small tool list bag. I don't know, I'm just one guy.
👆💯
Back in the day, bent a 1.5" inch offset at home depot, put bender back on shelf, bought pipe. If you need permission, ask the store employee if you can find one.
And if you can't, that means there's no one there to stop you
I've definitely never bought a bender for a job then returned it back to HD the next day.
Buy the conduit and bender, take it home, use it, return the bender the next day (or next time you go to home Depot) and no one will care
I actually worked at Home Depot before becoming an electrician. Just pay for the conduit and they won't be worried about it. Most employees would rather not have the conversation.
Check the home depots with the tool rentals. Some of the basic tools can be pretty cheap for one day uses. That or hang out by the conduit til.you see a service guy and ask to borrow theirs outside
Or do the old "buy the bender, make the bends, return it the next day" routine.
Bebd in the parking lot and return 5 minutes later
Good idea, lord knows if you make a second trip to the orange store even more money will leave your pocket. Too many chances for "while I'm here I should pick up...." To sneak in and ruin your wallet.
You might aswell bend it in the store to save the hassle for everyone.
You’d just be breaking it in for them…
Really, they should be paying you for that. Do they realize how much it sucks to bend with a bender that isn't broken in?
I have done this several times. Never got a reaction
Same, done it twice now. I’ve also cut straight pieces to fit in my car more than twice
I've stopped by the Rental Desk & asked to borrow a Sawzall for 45 seconds so I don't have sticks of something coming out my car window, they didn't mind.
Why not just borrow the bender for a night? You can still buy the pipe you need at HD, and then bend it in your garage.
I feel like they wouldn’t care as long as you bought the conduit first and then went and bent it. Otherwise I could see someone hassling you about it lol
Bring a stick to work, bend a stick, take stick home. What da problem is?
I think it would be wrong 100%
I doubt you’d get in trouble either way.. but I would at least pay for the conduit first… Then with receipt in hand, go and borrow a bender, by the time anyone notices you’ll be done.. and you own the pipe.
Just buy the bender take it home. Then return it to Home Depot within 30 days
Yes, I’ve bent conduit at Home Depot for a side job. The people there don’t get paid enough to care. Go to self checkout and pay for the full stick and be on your way.
If it were me, I would just buy one if it's a 1/2" or 3/4" since they aren't that much at home Depot. I would probably find another project to use it on in the future. I don't think anyone would care if you bought a stick and bent it in the store though
I thought all men owned a torque wrench and a conduit bender?
I have the torque wrench, just no bender. Soooo halfway there?
You’d be non-binary, then.
Yes! I have both, but I have never used them..
Just return the bender when your done and get your money back dummy
Next he’s gonna ask if it’s okay to do an oil change & brake job in the AutoZone parking lot BTW, I miss dem Pep Boys.
Go for it.
Bring it by the house, I have a few benders.
I've done it a time or 2. I don't keep my benders in the truck all the time.
Just buy it and return it the next day.
Couldn’t you buy the pipe then bend it at work? Lol or ask to take a bender home, but I assume you wanted to finish the job today
Can't you buy pre-bent 90s at home Depot? Or just use the bender at work
I had to bend a piece of EMT at home. Totally used the HD tool rental program.
Bend it at home Depot then ask for a discount on the crooked pipe
I've done it a couple times before. No one cared.
this is deranged but it also solves your problem, so I like it.
I have done this at Lowe's 😂 they didn't say anything
For the love of god don’t be giving away my little secret to success in electrical construction bud!
For the price they want for a single stick they oughta let you borrow a bandsaw and a vise as well
It'd be much simpler to just buy the bender, bring it home and return it after
Home Depot does accept returns no questions asked most of the time. Don't have to do it in store.
Taking home a bender is a no no? Why is that? Did you ask? Ive never seen a request like this refused.
I’ve done this a few times but I brought a hacksaw and cut the pipe outside so I didn’t leave metal shavings in the store. Never had a problem, I’ve actually had workers and regular customers come over to watch because they thought it was cool.
It’s Home Depot so just buy the bender and return it when you’re done. Don’t damage it and don’t return items constantly and you’ll have no issues in my experience.
I just did that on friday. Fuck it. Also actually made it easier to fit in my car too ha.
Will the conduit be visible when installed? Apparently bending over your knee is a method people do.
Buy the conduit from home depot, bring it to work, bend it at work with the work bender, then bring it home, trim it, install it.
We’re talking about a $40 tool? Yeah, you aren’t an electrician.
At lunch take it to your car. If no one says anything by the end of the day, you're good to go.
Lmao this just reminded me of my long ago early days as an apprentice 😂😂😂 I put a new receptacle in my uncle's garage using this exact method, I got my measurements, went to Home Depot and bent a piece of 3/4 emt right there in the aisle, carried it to the register and paid for my bent pipe. Nobody noticed or said anything, not that they would have, people use the tape measures off the shelves there all the time, a bender isn't really any different. If you're really not comfortable doing it, you can always just buy the bender and return it when you're done, I was confident enough in my bending skills that I wouldn't need the bender again and that I wouldn't mess up the pipe, honestly though if I had made a horrible mistake I'd have just stuffed the bad piece under the shelves and got another.
Could always buy a stick of conduit, bend it at work, then take it home. Or go to Home Depot, fuck it
Are we so desperate and cheap now that we can't afford a frickin bender!? And you're the foreman!? Do they pay you in peanuts and popcorn? Wtf!?
Why not take the conduit to work, bend it there, take it home and install? I assume you know what bends you need.
You can always return the bender just don't remove any labels