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Re: Bending mild steel strip

 

Can also use a fire pit or BBQ grill, and a shop vac to increase airflow. Though a propane or butane torch with a good pair of pliers and a 2lb/1 KG ball peen or cross-peen hammer and an "anvil-shaped object" (ASO) are relatively inexpensive. There are also several designs of brake-drum forge available on the internet. They aren't unimats either, but sure can expand your options. Get some high-carbon tool steel and you could forge your own tooling. The Industrial Revolution was built with such tooling.?

Bill in OKC?

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On Thursday, June 27, 2024 at 01:31:28 PM CDT, Carl <carl.blum@...> wrote:


Hi Peter:
?
Assumption, all the same size? And you have a vise? Are the bends in the same direction? Or opposite?
Even a propane torch can help. On the 30 deg bend, a larger radius would help.?
Cut a board as a template for the bends. Drill any holes before? bending.?
?
Carl.?

On 06/27/2024 1:18 PM EDT Peter Brooks <peter@...> wrote:
?
?
Apologies as this isn¡¯t Unimat (or even lathe) related - I¡¯d appreciate some advice from those who will know.

I have to make three identical ¡®legs¡¯ to support a metal shallow bowl water feature. Each leg will have two bends, and the material is 3/4¡± x 1/8¡± mild steel (18mm x 3mm approx for the metrically minded).

One bend is an easy angle, and I think I can do it in a metalworking vice. Envisaging what will happen I will clamp some pieces of wood around the free part as support so that the bend happens where it is meant to.

The other bend is trickier, as it is an acute 30 degrees¡­ Is this overly ambitious? ?I realise that the metal will fracture if - literally - pushed too far.

I don¡¯t have any equipment to heat the metal, so that is out.

A couple of ideas spring to mind as to how I might attempt it - a) clamping it with upright pieces of wood or metal in the vice (to give the clearance), or b) around a pin on a board (akin to bending steamed wood for furniture). In both cases proper supporting pieces of wood would be required to keep the bend in the right place.

Advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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