A hand-held conduit bending tool includes an elongated handle and a bender head disposed on the handle. The bender head comprising a body portion having at least one curved channel therein. In an embodiment, the channel is elliptical in cross-section. A handle mount is at a rear end of the body portion and rearward of the hook portion and a foot pedal is formed. In some embodiments, two channels are provided to accommodate two differently sized conduits. Markings are provided to enable use of the tool in a head-down position and in a head-up position.

A conduit bending apparatus having a shoe mounted for rotation about an axis and having an arcuate-shaped periphery defining an outwardly-opening groove having sidewalls for closely accepting the outer surface of a conduit desired to be bent utilizes a shoe comprised of a pair of platen half-sections which are joined in a side-by-side relationship and which collectively define the outwardly-opening groove. In addition, the groove has a width as measured laterally across the opening thereof, and the pair of half-sections are joined together in a manner which permits the pair of half-sections to be moved toward and away from one another. The shoe include a spacing preset mechanism adapted to control movement of opposing sidewalls to accommodate a preset alteration in the variable width of the outwardly-opening groove.