Simple jig for bending rod

My wife wants some stem supports for long-stemmed flowers. She saw them on the web for $5.95 each, wants a couple dozen of them -- for openers.

I spent an enjoyable afternoon making a jig. I can now make her stem supports in a minute or less each from about 35 cents worth of 1/4" dia steel rod. (I bought 80 feet of rod a couple of days ago).

formatting link

Reply to
Don Foreman
Loading thread data ...

Hey, Don-- That's a nice jig! Very pretty when you cleaned it up, too. Thanks for showing it to us. The web page is nicely done, too.

Reply to
treebeard

That's a nice die, Don.

I find making tooling like that to be very satisfying, esspecially when it's built quickly and saves a lot of time.

Any plans to build dies for the pre- and post-bends? Perhaps over kill, but you can reduce your costs by not using a torch.

And if you want to get really fancy, you could combine all three dies into one unit so that you have three parts (at different stanges of completion) in the tool at once. Deluxe.

Tool design is fun ;-)

Regards,

Robin

Reply to
Robin S.

Don: Really nice . Where do get the 1/4 rod? I was able to find copper clad rod at a local welding supply, but I thought $2.20 plus per pound was a bit high. They won't be stocking it anymore. I am in St. Louis. Bare steel 3/16" is 20 feet for $5. at .094 lb per foot that is also more expensivie than welding wire, which I buy in Chicago for $.80 lb. Even with freight its cheaper to buy out of town.

-Mike

Reply to
mclorson

Have you considered using the mild steel 3/16 wire used for the top tensioning strand in chain link fences? While it does come on a roll..its easy to straighten and is dirt cheap. But it is galvanized. A bit of a dip in a PVC tube of swimming pool acid..and the galvanized is gone. Stainless steel wire for the same purpose is not much more money either.

Shrug.

Gunner

"Considering the events of recent years, the world has a long way to go to regain its credibility and reputation with the US." unknown

Reply to
Gunner

Like the way you think... I'll take look at both. Have to learn how to weld the stainless though. Mike

Reply to
mclorson

Indeed! I have special admiration for its simplicity. Complicated is easy, simple is hard.

Indeed, again. It's probably the most satisfying thing that I do. Using machining skills to produce well-made things is nice, but my real satisfaction is taking a problem and creating/inventing a (good) solution.

Bob

BTW - I've used the hex head and wrench technique, but I use a hex nut and weld it on the inside, so the wrench slips on without welds interfering with its seating.

Reply to
Bob Engelhardt

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.