Jack Benfield has been indentified with the electrical conduit industry since 1929. He was a pioneer in the marketing of thin wall (EMT) conduit in the U.S.A.

Republic Steel Corporation created EMT. To market this brand-new product the company selected six young sales men to cover the U.S.A. Jack was in that original group of six. It was called the "EMT flying squad".

The Great Depression of the 1930's made it no "bed of roses" to sell a new untried raceway. Almost every branch of the electrical industry tried to discourage the acceptance of thin wall conduit.

-- Electricians cussed it, because it was such a problem to bend. Only hickey-type tools were available and they kinked the EMT to easily.

-- Labor Unions wanted more labor, not less.

-- The steel mills wanted more tonage, not less.

-- The NE Code restrictions the use of EMT to exposed dry locations and to circuits of 300 volts, or less.

With a bleak outlook and such code restriction, those six young salesmen barnstormed the USA from coast to coast. The odds against EMT were overwhelming. "At times we wondered, "Jack says, "if it would ever become an accepted raceway."

Then in the early 30's a wheel-type EMT bender (hand portable type) with a fixed radius appeared. It did an acceptable job, but it was an awkward tool with four parts and a floppy hook.

The need for a better bender was obvious. Jack designed and patented the first one-piece, solid hook Benfield bender for 1/2", 3/4", 1", and 1 1/4" EMT.

Sales took off when one-sweep, one-piece benders became available.

Jack visited electrical superintendents on construction jobs all over the free world, and saw a great need for precision in conduit bending. That need triggered Jack into adding such helpful features as painted symbols, the startpoint, the arrow, the rim notch, the degree scale, the Zip-Guide® for bender handles and a simple formula for offsets and saddles.

Jack Benfield wrote the first pocket instruction booklet back in the early 1930's. Since then over two million copies of his instruction booklets have been published. Now, with the advent of the VCR and DVD, Jack has personally produced a one-hour VHS video tape (also available on DVD). He desribes it as his "full dress" bending demonstration and calls it "The Benfield Bending Technique."

This revised "Benfield Conduit Bending Manual" and VHS video tape (also available on DVD) are perfect companions for teaching proper bending techniques. Apprentice electricians watch the video then they use the manual as a textbook to "zero-in" on any bothersome bending problem.

Electrical superintendents, training directors and journeymen electricians, by the thousands, have endorsed Jack's simple, non-technical method for making conduit bends That Fit.

"After 75 years," Jack says, "I still love to watch a good conduit man do his stuff. It's great to see them make bends that drop into place and fit like a glove. I've noticed that even old-time electrical journeymen get a quiet a thrill when a tough-to-make bend fits as though it had been molded in place."

By the THE PUBLISHER, EC&M Books