Bending a silver steel rod?

[Deadeye]

OK. Now I'm unclear whether to heat with my feeble blow torch (more useful for brulee tbh) or not.
If I put the rod across a couple of engineering bricks with a gap between and whack a cold chisel on the gap will I just break the bricks, the rod, both or what?

 

[Hornbeam]

Nothing to fancy reqd here - this spring will support the pipe and prevent it kinking

It isnt a tube he is trying to bend but a solid 8mm rod, Putting a pipe bending spring over it will just cause problems,
I would make a simple wooden former and bend around it in the vice. *mm should bend quite easily

 

[Phil Pascoe]

OK. Now I'm unclear whether to heat with my feeble blow torch (more useful for brulee tbh) or not.
If I put the rod across a couple of engineering bricks with a gap between and whack a cold chisel on the gap will I just break the bricks, the rod, both or what?

Put one brick on the other and the rod in the angle between - a miniature hearth. You should be able to heat an 8mm bar OK.

 

[deema]

I suspect that even the most illiterate Victorian village blacksmith would disagree with that.

If I take a piece of silver steel and hold in my grubby hand until it reaches body temperature, will it become harder? Maybe I can put it in the airing cupboard if I need it even harder. What hardness (or brittleness) will it achieve if I leave in the oven for 20 mins at 180 degrees?

Please peruse link below and reconsider:

https://archive.org/details/01hardeningtemperingheattreatment

Golly, bad day?
Anyway, the suggestion has been to use a torch to heat it up prior to bending. To get it hot enough to have any real effect in the bend radius you will be getting it red hot, and it will when it cools be hard.

 

[Deadeye]

Hello everyone

Well, it's done! Clamped in vice, a hardwood sleeve drilled and then thumped judiciously with a lump hammer. Came out just right, works a treat and looks original.

No heat used because the butane canister turned out to be empty (too much creme brulee I expect).

Thanks again for giving me the confidence to go for it

 

[Fergie 307]

OK. Now I'm unclear whether to heat with my feeble blow torch (more useful for brulee tbh) or not.
If I put the rod across a couple of engineering bricks with a gap between and whack a cold chisel on the gap will I just break the bricks, the rod, both or what?

Whatever happens to the bricks if you do this you will end up with a nasty gouge on the inside of the bend, not a clean curve, which I assume is what you want.

 

[Fergie 307]

SS is a form of tool steel, heating it will harden it and make it brittle. You need to make a proper bender, plenty of uTube stuff on how to make them.

Can't disagree with you in the strictest sense, however locally heating it to a dull red to bend it then allowing it to cool naturally is not going to make it hard enough to have any bearing on what the OP is using it for I would have thought. Depends how tight a radius bend is needed. The OP has bent it cold, and clearly happy with the result so all good.

 

[Fergie 307]

I suspect that even the most illiterate Victorian village blacksmith would disagree with that.

If I take a piece of silver steel and hold in my grubby hand until it reaches body temperature, will it become harder? Maybe I can put it in the airing cupboard if I need it even harder. What hardness (or brittleness) will it achieve if I leave in the oven for 20 mins at 180 degrees?

Please peruse link below and reconsider:

https://archive.org/details/01hardeningtemperingheattreatment

Whilst I generally agree with the point you are making, there really is no call to be so tetchy/sarcastic.

 

[budgie98]

Golly, bad day?
Anyway, the suggestion has been to use a torch to heat it up prior to bending. To get it hot enough to have any real effect in the bend radius you will be getting it red hot, and it will when it cools be hard.

I'm not sure that SS is Air Hardening. Most tool steels are alloyed to prevent departure from the tempered state when heated above it.

 

[sploo]

Wouldn't SS only harden if heated and cooled quickly? That's a question as much as a statement; as I have hardened steel a few times but I'm certainly no expert.

 

[niall Y]

If one has ever tried cutting something like 01 steel with a hacksaw after the cut has been started with a cutting disk, will be aware that it can have harden enough to be noticeable.

 

[wurglesnash357]

Hello everyone

Well, it's done! Clamped in vice, a hardwood sleeve drilled and then thumped judiciously with a lump hammer. Came out just right, works a treat and looks original.

No heat used because the butane canister turned out to be empty (too much creme brulee I expect).

Thanks again for giving me the confidence to go for it

And thanks for letting us know how it went. Not everybody remembers to do so!

Les

 

[Tom P]

Yes s/steel can be a bitch! It has a tendency to work harden particularly when machining ie drilling and even a HSS drill will struggle.
Tom