I want to bend some cold rolled 3/4" round rod. I just need to bend them to degrees less than 45 degrees. Would a bench bender with a long arm, or a hydraulic jack placed under some I beams like is in a press work best. This does not have to be precise, just close. I was wondering with the long arm bender if I would end up with much of a radius or a lot of springback.
The pieces would then be welded together afterward.
Steve
Warm it up with a torch (a Rosebud Tip if you have one) or a Forge (a stack of Fire Bricks and a Propane weed-burner will do) to red to soften it up, and use a floor-mount or bench-mount bender.
Exactly how hot, you'll have to experiment a bit.
With 3/4" stock it's probably could be bent cold but would take a hell of a cheater bar and the bend would be very uneven and the springback would be pronounced - and the stretched outer half of the bend could have the beginnings of a fracture.
Heat it up and it'll bend like butter, nice and even radius, and be structurally sound.
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If you're bending this you do NOT want to use Rebar unless you special order it exactly the way you want - If you want it to be easily bent and or welded, clean new steel with no "surprises" inside, or hardenable like Tool Steel, you have to specify that ahead of time.
Since it's usually made from re-melted scrap steel the composition of off-the-shelf Rebar can be all over the map with a lot of carbon and other additives from it's former formulation that you don't want - and if the melt wasn't thorough you end up with hard bits from it's former life such as tungsten carbide saw teeth, ball bearings, and lathe inserts cast inside too...
If you will be mass producing these clips, I'd get a small natural gas and forced-air Blacksmith's Forge and warm them up in that, then you can have the distance and bend angle stops on the stand bender all pre-set. Insert the bar with tongs to the stop, turn the handle till it hits the stop, bend is done at one end. Repeat for the other end.
Warm it up again and get out that Big Ol' Anvil and Hammer if you need to make any adjustments to match the template. Then warm to straw yellow and plunge into oil or water to quench if you want to harden it as much as the metallurgy allows (but it can get brittle), or set it aside to air cool and anneal.
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A good vise and a "hickey bar" - a bar with a notch in it to fit the bar.
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