Conduit Bend Calculator

Lay out offsets, 90° stubs, and three-bend saddles in seconds — enter the depth and angle and get the distance between bends, the shrink, and exactly where to mark the conduit. Field-chart and exact-trig multipliers. Free, no signup.

Calculator

Conduit Bend Calculator

Free
Multiplier method
Distance between the two bends12"

2.00× multiplier at 30°

Shrink
1 1/2"0.2500" per inch of offset — add to your measurement
First bend mark
37 1/2"Distance to obstacle + shrink, from the free end
Second bend mark
49 1/2"First mark + distance between bends

Field chart: 2.00× multiplier · 0.25 in shrink/in. Switch to Exact trig for 2.0000× · 0.268 in per inch.

  • Pick your bend type

    Choose offset, 90° stub-up, or three-bend saddle. Each uses the standard bender constants electricians already know.

  • Enter depth and angle

    For an offset, enter the rise and pick 10°, 22.5°, 30°, 45°, or 60°. The tool returns the multiplier, distance between bends, and shrink — field-chart values or exact trig.

  • Mark the conduit

    Add your distance to the obstacle and the calculator places the first and second bend marks (offset) or center and outer marks (saddle), with shrink already added in.

How it works

  1. 1

    Pick your bend type

    Choose offset, 90° stub-up, or three-bend saddle. Each uses the standard bender constants electricians already know.

  2. 2

    Enter depth and angle

    For an offset, enter the rise and pick 10°, 22.5°, 30°, 45°, or 60°. The tool returns the multiplier, distance between bends, and shrink — field-chart values or exact trig.

  3. 3

    Mark the conduit

    Add your distance to the obstacle and the calculator places the first and second bend marks (offset) or center and outer marks (saddle), with shrink already added in.

How conduit bending math works

Every conduit bend comes down to two numbers: a multiplier and a shrink. For a two-bend offset, the distance between the bends equals the offset depth times the multiplier — the cosecant of the bend angle (1 ÷ sin θ). That gives the familiar field values: 6 at 10°, 2.6 at 22.5°, 2 at 30°, 1.4 at 45°, and 1.2 at 60°. The 30° bend is the everyday favorite because its ×2 multiplier and ¼-inch-per-inch shrink are trivial to do in your head. Shrink is how much the run shortens as it rises over the obstacle — exactly tan(θ/2) per inch of offset — so you add it to your measurement to keep the run from coming up short.

This calculator covers the three bends you make most: the offset, the 90° stub-up, and the three-bend saddle. For a stub-up, it subtracts the bender take-up (5" for ½" EMT, 6" for ¾", 8" for 1", 11" for 1¼") from your finished height to place the mark — and lets you override with a measured deduct, since take-up varies by bender. For a saddle over a pipe, it uses the 45°-center / 22.5°-outer standard (2.5× multiplier, 3/16" shrink per inch) to place the center and outer marks. Toggle between field-chart constants and exact trig, and read every result to the nearest 1/16" the way you would off a tape measure. Pair it with the wire size and voltage drop calculators to take a run from layout to code-compliant install.

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Conduit Bend Calculator FAQs

What is the multiplier for a conduit offset?

The offset multiplier is the cosecant of the bend angle: 6 at 10°, 2.6 at 22.5°, 2 at 30°, 1.4 at 45°, and 1.2 at 60°. Multiply the offset depth by this to get the distance between your two bend marks. A 6-inch offset at 30° needs marks 12 inches apart (6 × 2).

Shrink is the amount a run shortens as it rises over an obstacle. It equals the offset depth times a per-inch constant — about 1/4" per inch at 30°, 3/8" at 45°, and 1/2" at 60°. You add the shrink to your measurement so the conduit still lands where you need it.

Take-up (deduct) is the distance subtracted from the desired stub height to find the bend mark. For a standard EMT hand bender it is 5" for ½", 6" for ¾", 8" for 1", and 11" for 1¼". So a 12-inch stub in ½" EMT is marked at 7 inches (12 − 5). Take-up varies slightly by bender, so verify with a test bend.

The standard three-bend saddle uses a 45° center bend and two 22.5° outer bends. The distance from the center mark to each outer mark is the obstacle depth times 2.5, and the shrink is 3/16" per inch of depth. A 2-inch saddle puts the outer marks 5 inches from center with 3/8" of shrink added to the center measurement.

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