We have experience bending up to 1/8" wall tube and also bending steel tube for non FRC projects. 1/8" wall steel tube usually takes two student to pull the die around. We have not found a need for thicker tubing in our designs. We have only had a few failures all of which have occurred where holes where drilled in bends.
We source our materials locally from AED Motorsport which saves us on shipping since we have mentors that work close by. Our cost last season was 3.30/ft which is cheaper than McMaster and Online metals.
We have a Hossfeld Bender which we bought used.
http://www.hossfeldbender.com/bender...-tube-pipe.php
I won't be in our shop till next week but I will follow up with pictures as soon as I can after that.
Allison