3 Point Saddle Bend: Layout, Multiplier and Shrink (Plus the 4-Point Saddle)

A 3-point saddle carries the pipe over something round and narrow, usually another pipe, with three bends: a centre bend over the obstacle and a half-angle bend on each side. For anything wide and flat (a duct, a beam flange, a box), use a 4-point saddle, which is two offsets back to back.

Saddles aren’t in the NEC. The geometry is the offset trigonometry from Benfield’s Conduit Bending and Ugly’s Electrical References, and every number here is computed by the engine behind the Conduit Bending calculator.

The numbers for a 45° saddle

The usual 3-point uses a 45° centre and two 22.5° outers. Each outer leg climbs the obstacle depth at 22.5°, so:

• Outer marks from centre = depth × csc 22.5° = depth × 2.613
• Shrink = depth × 0.199

2.5 or 2.6?

Charts disagree, and the geometry settles it: the exact multiplier for a 45° centre is 2.613, so 2.6 is the honest rounding. Use 2.5 and the outer marks land closer to the centre than they should. With the same angles the saddle then comes out lower than the obstacle. On a 2 in pipe each outer mark is 0.23 in short; on a 6 in obstacle, 0.68 in. That’s the saddle that rides the pipe it was supposed to clear.

Shrink has the same story. The “3/16 in per inch of depth” rule is 0.1875 in; the exact figure is 0.1989 in.

Saddle chart (45° centre)

How to bend a 3-point saddle in ½” EMT

Example: crossing a 2 in pipe whose centre is 30 in from the end of the conduit.

1. Centre mark. Measure to the centre of the obstacle and add the shrink, because the saddle pulls the end of the pipe in: 30 in + 3/8" = 30 3/8".
2. Outer marks. 2 in × 2.613 = 5 1/4" either side of the centre mark, at 25 3/16" and 35 5/8".
3. Centre bend first. Line the centre mark up with the bender’s saddle mark, not the arrow. On many benders it’s a teardrop or a notch in the hook; check yours. Bend 45°.
4. First outer bend. Roll the pipe 180°, line one outer mark up with the arrow, and bend 22.5°. The outer bends go the opposite way to the centre.
5. Second outer bend. Turn the pipe end for end, line up the last mark, and bend 22.5°. Sight along it between bends so all three stay in one plane.
6. Check it against the obstacle before it goes up. Both outer legs should sit flat and in line with the run.

A 60° centre with 30° outers makes a steeper, shorter saddle: outer marks 4" from centre and 9/16" of shrink over the same 2 in pipe. It costs 120° of the 360° allowed between pull points (358.26 for EMT) instead of 90°. Use it when there isn’t room for the 45.

Preset to the 2 in example. Switch to 4-point to see the trapezoid.

The 4-point saddle

Bend an offset up, run across the top, bend an offset back down. Each half is an ordinary offset of the obstacle’s depth, laid out with the offset multiplier chart.

Example: a 4 in deep, 8 in wide obstacle with 30° bends.

1. Spacing within each offset: 4 in × 2.00 = 8".
2. Shrink: each offset shrinks 1 1/16", so the whole saddle shrinks 2 1/8". Add it when you measure toward the obstacle.
3. Four marks. Mark 1 where the first offset starts (say 20 in from the end). Mark 2 8" past it. Mark 3 at least the obstacle width past mark 2 (36") so the flat clears the top. Mark 4 8" past mark 3 (44").
4. Bend the first offset on marks 1 and 2, then the second on marks 3 and 4 as its mirror image, all in one plane.

At 45° the same obstacle needs marks 5 11/16" apart and shrinks 3 5/16" in total, but four 45° bends spend 180° of the 360° budget on one obstacle. Two of those between pull points and you’re out.

Where saddles go wrong

• Short outer marks from the 2.5 rule on anything deeper than a small pipe.
• No shrink added, so the centre of the saddle lands before the obstacle.
• Centre bend made on the arrow instead of the saddle mark, which shifts the whole saddle.
• Pipe rolled between bends. One outer leg kicks sideways, and it won’t sit flat on the strut.

Bending marks vary between benders. Check yours, and bend a test piece when the saddle has to sit tight.

Every number in this guide is computed by the same engine as the Voltkit app. It cites NEC 2023 sections but doesn't reproduce NFPA text or tables; check the wording in your copy of the code and with your authority having jurisdiction.

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