Which steel bends easily?

[Olle]

Originally Posted by lugerholsterrepair

it's a rectangular shape...

You might have a great deal of trouble with squared corners whatever you are using. They are quite difficult to square up..they tend to round over instead.

What kind of lanyard loop is this?

Yep, the rod tends to bend in the wrong places. This is for the P.38 (the loop has the same basic shape as paper staple), and I'm having a hard time getting the straight sections straight. I have made a pretty tight and sturdy die, where the head has a cap that I can tighten down to hold the rod. This die is then pressed into a tight fixture, which folds the legs of the loop. I don't have any pictures, but if you imagine the die and the rod as a "T" shape that is pressed into a square hole, you'll get the idea.

I have made the tool to pretty tight tolerances, but it's still difficult to get the shape right due to the small size. There's simply not enough rod for the die to hold on to when I bend it, and work hardening probably adds to the problem as well. I suspect that the original loops were formed hot, but I can't really do that as it would also weaken the die.

The only solution I can see is to find a softer rod that bends easily and cleanly, and doesn't spring back as much as the drill rod does. The ends need to be turned down before I bend it so the material needs to be fairly machinable, but the strength shouldn't be a problem at all.