Which steel bends easily?

[Neil Young]

Olle:
That's quite an ingenious bending jig that you have built--very impressive. My thought on why the back of the loop is rounded, although barely noticeable, is that the very small rod clamping screws might be stretching during the bending process, allowing the clamp cap to raise up, allowing the rounding effect. There has to be some tremendous forces exerted on those screws as the rod resists the sharp bending.

Of course, the entire jig system would have to be larger to allow for larger and/or more screws. This is just one more nuts observation.

By the way, I've done a lot of drill rod bending, but I am using W1 rod. It's my understanding that it comes annealed--at least it machines well.

[G.T.]

Hi Neil, I thought the same,..it is a nice fixture, but bigger would be better...Actually the loops are nicely done, too nice! The Germans stamped them out hard and cold, and if you look close, they show it!
The reason the loop bottom isn't flat is that instead of being secured in the clamp, the grooved ram should push directly on the staple ...and then, it needs a final block, with a 1.5MM rad. groove to press against at the bottom of the jig at the very last .... won't get flat until this happens?? The clamp is neat, but overkill... when the ram picks up the stock and starts to bend, any lateral movement should be over... If it does move, just make a final adjusting saddle fixture to finish, using the same ram... ... might be a two step operation!!!.... I call this type of discovery tool making, "Taking off on the short runway!" as your initial design seems logical but has built in problems that take much more work to cure.. but you have to give it a try, and of course, you go out thru the end markers.. but your 100% better equipped when you get on the long runway, should you be lucky enough to survive the attempt!.......It is a nice fixture, and you should be proud of the effort and result...you're close! Keep trying!...Best to all, til....lat'r....GT.....

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Neil Young

Olle:
That's quite an ingenious bending jig that you have built--very impressive.

+ 1

Are you greasing it up real good before pressing??? I have to admit that it seems like what you have made would be quite adequate for a P-38 lanyard ring...maybe a bit of tweaking after the loop comes out of the press, but your prototypes look pretty good to me...

[G.T.]

you can also make the loops, just are you are now doing...then make a small base plate with two holes for the ends to set into, and using the same ram, press it flat from the outside of the loop...either way, inside or outside, you'll have to upset some metal to get the original radius look!!... Easy as pie now, all the hard work is done.. ...Best to you, til...lat'r...GT