Bend Theory / Multiplier chart
Multiplier and shrink chart
Offset multipliers and shrink for every bend angle, on one page. Bookmark it or print it for the gang box.
How to use it
distance between bends = offset depth × multiplier
shrink = offset depth × shrink per inch
Example: a 6″ offset at 30° needs marks 6 × 2 = 12″ apart, and the run gets 6 × 1/4 = 1 1/2″ shorter. Measure from your mark and add the shrink so the offset lands where you want it.
Common angles
| Bend angle | Field multiplier | Field shrink per inch | Exact multiplier | Exact shrink per inch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10° | 6 | 1/16″ | 5.759 | 0.087″ |
| 15° | 3.9 | 1/8″ | 3.864 | 0.132″ |
| 22.5° | 2.6 | 3/16″ | 2.613 | 0.199″ |
| 30° | 2 | 1/4″ | 2.000 | 0.268″ |
| 45° | 1.4 | 3/8″ | 1.414 | 0.414″ |
| 60° | 1.2 | 1/2″ | 1.155 | 0.577″ |
The field numbers are rounded so you can do the math in your head. The exact numbers are what our offset calculator uses.
Distance between bends for common offsets
Find your offset depth on the left and your angle across the top. The big number is the distance between your marks; the small number under it is the shrink. All values use the exact multipliers, rounded to the nearest 1/16″.
| Offset | 10° | 22.5° | 30° | 45° | 60° |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1″ | 5 3/4″1/16″ | 2 5/8″3/16″ | 2″1/4″ | 1 7/16″7/16″ | 1 1/8″9/16″ |
| 2″ | 11 1/2″3/16″ | 5 1/4″3/8″ | 4″9/16″ | 2 13/16″13/16″ | 2 5/16″1 1/8″ |
| 3″ | 17 1/4″1/4″ | 7 13/16″5/8″ | 6″13/16″ | 4 1/4″1 1/4″ | 3 7/16″1 3/4″ |
| 4″ | 23 1/16″3/8″ | 10 7/16″13/16″ | 8″1 1/16″ | 5 11/16″1 11/16″ | 4 5/8″2 5/16″ |
| 5″ | 28 13/16″7/16″ | 13 1/16″1″ | 10″1 5/16″ | 7 1/16″2 1/16″ | 5 3/4″2 7/8″ |
| 6″ | 34 9/16″1/2″ | 15 11/16″1 3/16″ | 12″1 5/8″ | 8 1/2″2 1/2″ | 6 15/16″3 7/16″ |
| 7″ | 40 5/16″5/8″ | 18 5/16″1 3/8″ | 14″1 7/8″ | 9 7/8″2 7/8″ | 8 1/16″4 1/16″ |
| 8″ | 46 1/16″11/16″ | 20 7/8″1 9/16″ | 16″2 1/8″ | 11 5/16″3 5/16″ | 9 1/4″4 5/8″ |
| 9″ | 51 13/16″13/16″ | 23 1/2″1 13/16″ | 18″2 7/16″ | 12 3/4″3 3/4″ | 10 3/8″5 3/16″ |
| 10″ | 57 9/16″7/8″ | 26 1/8″2″ | 20″2 11/16″ | 14 1/8″4 1/8″ | 11 9/16″5 3/4″ |
| 11″ | 63 3/8″15/16″ | 28 3/4″2 3/16″ | 22″2 15/16″ | 15 9/16″4 9/16″ | 12 11/16″6 3/8″ |
| 12″ | 69 1/8″1 1/16″ | 31 3/8″2 3/8″ | 24″3 3/16″ | 17″5″ | 13 7/8″6 15/16″ |
| 14″ | 80 5/8″1 1/4″ | 36 9/16″2 13/16″ | 28″3 3/4″ | 19 13/16″5 13/16″ | 16 3/16″8 1/16″ |
| 16″ | 92 1/8″1 3/8″ | 41 13/16″3 3/16″ | 32″4 5/16″ | 22 5/8″6 5/8″ | 18 1/2″9 1/4″ |
| 18″ | 103 11/16″1 9/16″ | 47 1/16″3 9/16″ | 36″4 13/16″ | 25 7/16″7 7/16″ | 20 13/16″10 3/8″ |
| 20″ | 115 3/16″1 3/4″ | 52 1/4″4″ | 40″5 3/8″ | 28 5/16″8 5/16″ | 23 1/8″11 9/16″ |
| 24″ | 138 3/16″2 1/8″ | 62 11/16″4 3/4″ | 48″6 7/16″ | 33 15/16″9 15/16″ | 27 11/16″13 7/8″ |
Every angle from 1° to 60°
Handy for odd angles and kicks. The common angles are highlighted.
| Bend angle | Multiplier | Shrink per inch | Shrink, nearest 1/16″ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1° | 57.299 | 0.009″ | under 1/32″ |
| 2° | 28.654 | 0.017″ | under 1/32″ |
| 3° | 19.107 | 0.026″ | under 1/32″ |
| 4° | 14.336 | 0.035″ | 1/16″ |
| 5° | 11.474 | 0.044″ | 1/16″ |
| 6° | 9.567 | 0.052″ | 1/16″ |
| 7° | 8.206 | 0.061″ | 1/16″ |
| 8° | 7.185 | 0.070″ | 1/16″ |
| 9° | 6.392 | 0.079″ | 1/16″ |
| 10° | 5.759 | 0.087″ | 1/16″ |
| 11° | 5.241 | 0.096″ | 1/8″ |
| 12° | 4.810 | 0.105″ | 1/8″ |
| 13° | 4.445 | 0.114″ | 1/8″ |
| 14° | 4.134 | 0.123″ | 1/8″ |
| 15° | 3.864 | 0.132″ | 1/8″ |
| 16° | 3.628 | 0.141″ | 1/8″ |
| 17° | 3.420 | 0.149″ | 1/8″ |
| 18° | 3.236 | 0.158″ | 3/16″ |
| 19° | 3.072 | 0.167″ | 3/16″ |
| 20° | 2.924 | 0.176″ | 3/16″ |
| 21° | 2.790 | 0.185″ | 3/16″ |
| 22° | 2.669 | 0.194″ | 3/16″ |
| 22.5° | 2.613 | 0.199″ | 3/16″ |
| 23° | 2.559 | 0.203″ | 3/16″ |
| 24° | 2.459 | 0.213″ | 3/16″ |
| 25° | 2.366 | 0.222″ | 1/4″ |
| 26° | 2.281 | 0.231″ | 1/4″ |
| 27° | 2.203 | 0.240″ | 1/4″ |
| 28° | 2.130 | 0.249″ | 1/4″ |
| 29° | 2.063 | 0.259″ | 1/4″ |
| 30° | 2.000 | 0.268″ | 1/4″ |
| 31° | 1.942 | 0.277″ | 1/4″ |
| 32° | 1.887 | 0.287″ | 5/16″ |
| 33° | 1.836 | 0.296″ | 5/16″ |
| 34° | 1.788 | 0.306″ | 5/16″ |
| 35° | 1.743 | 0.315″ | 5/16″ |
| 36° | 1.701 | 0.325″ | 5/16″ |
| 37° | 1.662 | 0.335″ | 5/16″ |
| 38° | 1.624 | 0.344″ | 3/8″ |
| 39° | 1.589 | 0.354″ | 3/8″ |
| 40° | 1.556 | 0.364″ | 3/8″ |
| 41° | 1.524 | 0.374″ | 3/8″ |
| 42° | 1.494 | 0.384″ | 3/8″ |
| 43° | 1.466 | 0.394″ | 3/8″ |
| 44° | 1.440 | 0.404″ | 3/8″ |
| 45° | 1.414 | 0.414″ | 7/16″ |
| 46° | 1.390 | 0.424″ | 7/16″ |
| 47° | 1.367 | 0.435″ | 7/16″ |
| 48° | 1.346 | 0.445″ | 7/16″ |
| 49° | 1.325 | 0.456″ | 7/16″ |
| 50° | 1.305 | 0.466″ | 7/16″ |
| 51° | 1.287 | 0.477″ | 1/2″ |
| 52° | 1.269 | 0.488″ | 1/2″ |
| 53° | 1.252 | 0.499″ | 1/2″ |
| 54° | 1.236 | 0.510″ | 1/2″ |
| 55° | 1.221 | 0.521″ | 1/2″ |
| 56° | 1.206 | 0.532″ | 9/16″ |
| 57° | 1.192 | 0.543″ | 9/16″ |
| 58° | 1.179 | 0.554″ | 9/16″ |
| 59° | 1.167 | 0.566″ | 9/16″ |
| 60° | 1.155 | 0.577″ | 9/16″ |
Where these numbers come from
The multiplier is 1 ÷ sin of the bend angle, and the shrink per inch is tan of half the angle. Both come from treating the offset as a right triangle with sharp corners. See where multipliers come from for the full explanation, and centerline radius vs. multipliers for when your bender's radius starts to matter.
Skip the chart on the job.
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