Bending 1" and 2" EMT

VietGnome · May 14, 2026

Hey everyone,

Planning my shop build and for the most part I think I have the electrical down thanks to all my other threads. All surface mounted in 1/2" and 3/4" EMT. Obviously planning on picking up a bender for both.

However I'm planning on transitioning to EMT where 2" PVC comes out of the slab, and doing a short run straight up into the panel.

As well I'm planning on a short run of 1" straight up out of a 4x4 box into the ceiling to get some Romex up into the attic. I presume both of these are going to require a couple small kicks. Is there any alternative to spending hundreds of dollars on 2 big EMT benders that will only be used for a couple bends each?

sparky 1971 · May 14, 2026

Plan everything out well enough and neither will be needed for straight runs. A 1" step bender can be picked up fairly reasonably but I don't see any reason for 1" EMT as a romex sleeve. Just use 3/4 and if you need to do two sleeves, so be it. Figure out where the 2" needs to come out of the slab to run straight into the bottom of the panel and put it in. If, after the concrete is poured you find out you screwed up and need to make an offset, stay with PVC that can be bent with heat and paint the conduit silver. You're not just going to run out and buy a 2" EMT bender. I have a bender that can handle 2" EMT but before that made it about 20 years using factory bends in 30, 45, and 90°.

VietGnome · May 14, 2026

sparky 1971 said:
Plan everything out well enough and neither will be needed for straight runs. A 1" step bender can be picked up fairly reasonably but I don't see any reason for 1" EMT as a romex sleeve. Just use 3/4 and if you need to do two sleeves, so be it. Figure out where the 2" needs to come out of the slab to run straight into the bottom of the panel and put it in. If, after the concrete is poured you find out you screwed up and need to make an offset, stay with PVC that can be bent with heat and paint the conduit silver. You're not just going to run out and buy a 2" EMT bender. I have a bender that can handle 2" EMT but before that made it about 20 years using factory bends in 30, 45, and 90°.

Thanks!
It's going to be 3x 14/2 running into the ceiling, so 2x 3/4" is probably my best bet.

As far as the 2", is 2x6 framing on a 8x8" stemwall, so it will likely be set out too much to run straight out into the panel, so maybe bending PVC is the best move.

mm08822 · May 14, 2026

NM, you're surface mounted.
Locate the 2" pvc within the wall before pouring concrete. Since you can layout the entire building on paper, you can locate the conduit to reasonably hit the center of the stud bay. Finish it with a coupling and more pvc as you install the panel. Worst case you only need a small offset left or right to hit the center ko.

A sparky could easily complete this with his tools as you somehow need to bring one onto the job anyway for permitting.

He could also do the 1" emt bends.

VietGnome · May 14, 2026

mm08822 said:
NM, you're surface mounted.
Locate the 2" pvc within the wall before pouring concrete. Since you can layout the entire building on paper, you can locate the conduit to reasonably hit the center of the stud bay. Finish it with a coupling and more pvc as you install the panel. Worst case you only need a small offset left or right to hit the center ko.

A sparky could easily complete this with his tools as you somehow need to bring one onto the job anyway for permitting.

He could also do the 1" emt bends.

I may have found a workaround to the previous issue. Friend was an electrician, has since retired and changed fields. Has a friend/old coworker who is current and willing to let us do the work, and will come after and inspect.

Still not 100% solidified but is looking to be the best option so far.

Chuckster in NJ · May 14, 2026

In order to bend 2” EMT you will need a bender with "shoes" that prevent kinks, I have used trees, truck wheels along with other objects that will secure the pipe to "take out" some bends but you risk collapsing the EMT and hurting yourself if not careful.
Maybe a local rental shop rents EMT benders like a Greenlee 882 EMT bender.

TIP! Call a professional that has the right tools to help you……… You need one anyway!

mm08822 · May 14, 2026

Sealtite is an option.....just more hardware/cost.

sparky 1971 · May 14, 2026

VietGnome said:
Thanks!
It's going to be 3x 14/2 running into the ceiling, so 2x 3/4" is probably my best bet.

As far as the 2", is 2x6 framing on a 8x8" stemwall, so it will likely be set out too much to run straight out into the panel, so maybe bending PVC is the best move.

If you can't get it in a position where you are going to be confident it will come straight into the bottom of the panel, go up the outside wall and LB into the back of it. I've seen way too many hack jobs where the conduit was placed wrong and the end result looks like ****.

mike93lx · May 14, 2026

Why transition to emt for those runs? I'd be much more inclined to rent a heat box and finish the run in pvc vs dealing with bending bid emt as an amateur

VietGnome · May 15, 2026

sparky 1971 said:
If you can't get it in a position where you are going to be confident it will come straight into the bottom of the panel, go up the outside wall and LB into the back of it. I've seen way too many hack jobs where the conduit was placed wrong and the end result looks like ****.

That's fair. It will definitely need some sort of kick back towards the wall to get over the stem wall.

Maybe this is the deciding factor to stub the feed in outside and go through the wall. I'll need to run the grounding wire through the wall to my rods anyways.

sparky 1971 · May 15, 2026

VietGnome said:
That's fair. It will definitely need some sort of kick back towards the wall to get over the stem wall.

Maybe this is the deciding factor to stub the feed in outside and go through the wall. I'll need to run the grounding wire through the wall to my rods anyways.

If you already know it's going to be out too far and need to be offset back then definitely bring it up outside and use an LB. Inside with an offset is going to be ugly and in the way every time you go to or walk past the. panel.

Bending 1" and 2" EMT

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