1. Value for Money (20 points)
How much real capability and completeness you get per dollar for a typical starter system (frame + dies + power + stand).
Method: Scaled (fixed thresholds)Max 20 pts
What we score: how much real capability you get per dollar. We add up the capability points a machine earns in the other categories (67 possible — ease of use, diameter, bend angle, stress/materials, dies, upgrades, mandrel, S-bend, single-source, warranty), divide by its complete-system price (frame + dies + power + stand), and score the result on a fixed scale. A cheaper machine that still does a lot scores high; an expensive one that doesn't scores low.
Fixed scale — capability points per $1,000 (20 max)
- ≥ 30 → 20
- 25–29 → 17
- 20–24 → 14
- 15–19 → 11
- 12–14 → 8
- 9–11 → 5
- 6–8 → 3
- < 6 → 1 · no documented price → 0
This scale is fixed and published — a machine's value score is reproducible by hand and never changes just because we add or remove other machines from the set.
On the stand/base: if a machine is stable and safe to use on a bench with no stand, we count the stand as $0. But if a machine requires a stand for safe use and the manufacturer doesn't sell one, we add a nominal $200 to its system price (a basic cart you'd have to buy or build). Pricing a mandatory-but-missing part at $0 would reward an incomplete offering by making it look cheaper than it can actually be owned. A machine in that situation also scores 0 on Single-Source, since you can't buy a complete working system from one place.
Data sources & verification
- Manufacturer technical specifications, capacity charts, and manuals
- Official product pages and documentation PDFs
- Documented compatibility lists (dies/materials/upgrades)
- If it's not published/verified, that feature scores 0 for that category
Looking for the per-product math? Open any review and expand Score math (diagnostic).
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