How to Bend Rod with Heat: Your Home Metal-shop Tips

[motocross223Tanner]

How would you bend a motorcycle lever? As in brake or clutch lever.

[MrMldillman]

@motocross223Tanner --- I'd get going about 30 and pitch it! lol

...just kiddin', what're they made of...alloy?

[motocross223Tanner]

@MrMldillman I believe aluminum

[MrMldillman]

@motocross223Tanner --- take a piece of pipe just big enough to fit over the lever then slide it down to the point where the lever is bent. Next, place a block or something solid between the handlebar and the lever(unless you have the lever detached. If so, just use your bench vice to hold it) , then simply use the leverage created by the longer piece of pipe, gently ease the bend back to its original position. Go slow or the lever may break (depending on how rigid the alloy)

[motocross223Tanner]

@MrMldillman I believe aluminum

[MrMldillman]

@motocross223Tanner --- hope this helps...let me know, I've got some old clutch and break levers in a box somewhere in my shop...I'll send ya one =)

[robotmotor]

sir i have 1 mm sheet metal but my bending machine cant bend this thinknees what you sugest for me ?? even when i use dremel tool rotary wheel disk cutter and i cut alittle to make bending esay for machine did not work !!!!!!!!

[MrMldillman]

@robotmotor --- yes, I'd like to help. What kind of bender...what application..? There are many variables to consider...

[robotmotor]

@MrMldillman 30 hand brake bending tool she bend only half mm but the sheet i have i mm and half what you sugest for me heat the sheet or mark line and cut alittle from it to make it half mm to bend it the machine is hand tools brake the type she can bend sheet metal 90 deggree if the thikness 18 guage

[MrMldillman]

@robotmotor --- this sounds like a good question for my friend Kevin Caron...He will have the answer for you. Go to his youtube channel and ask, he is a good guy and knows much more than me about heavy gauge metals...His channel is kevincaron , tell him I sent you =)

[robotmotor]

@MrMldillman okey thanks

[MrMldillman]

@robotmotor --- be sure to let me know what he says...I want to know too =)

[robotmotor]

@MrMldillman he dont answer until now but i find how to bend it even its to mch thick its easy and i bend it thanks too much and maybe he give me another idea

[vjanda1]

HI can stainless steel rods be bent using the same way?

[MrMldillman]

@vjanda1 --- that's a good question...

I've not done much of anything with stainless steel.

You should ask that question to my friend, Kevin Caron...he's got a great channel here on youtube: kevincaron

He'll know that answer for sure!

[vjanda1]

@MrMldillman

Kevin was very helpful indeed !!!

Many thanks for the contact :)

[MrMldillman]

@vjanda1 --- He's a great guy that Kevin Caron...and one heck of an artist! =)

[MrMldillman]

@vjanda1 --- so what'd he say...Can you bend stainless with a torch?

[vjanda1]

Well sure you can!

I would assume that you want a rather sharp bend to form the hook right?

Do you have a vise in your shop? Clamp it in there with the short end sticking out so you can take a hammer to it. Do you have a Oxy/ Ac torch? This will help to get a nice sharp bend also.

[vjanda1]

No O/A rig? Do you have a gas cook top in the house? How about a bbq? That's another good source of heat to bend with.

I have even gone so far has to back the lug bolts out of the rim on the car and used them to bend a small dia. rod.

Just look around you, there are all kinds of tools right in sight. You just have to use them a little differently than they were int...

[TheOnedeadguy]

Is there some way to bend metal without using a torch?... I mean, obviously, you still have to use heat, but is there some alternative?

[MrMldillman]

@TheOnedeadguy --- Sure there are...depends on what you're after. You can use hydraulics or even a simple parts bender...I'll put together another video to show you other ways to bend metal.

[FRUNTCASTER]

Mitchell, was that a white carpenters pencil you were using?

[MrMldillman]

@FRUNTCASTER That is a flat soapstone holder, basically a soapstone pencil designed to mark on steel. You can pick one up at just about any hardware store...

[FRUNTCASTER]

@MrMldillman --- Bummer. . . I'm familiar with the soapstones and silver pencils (I fab for a living right now). . . But at a glance in your video, it looked like a carpenters pencil. Ya never know what's out there, and I thought a white or silver carpenters pencil would be a handy marking device for the shop.

[MrMldillman]

@FRUNTCASTER You said it...a white carpenters pencil would be handy around any home shop!

[FRUNTCASTER]

@MrMldillman --- If you didn't already know about them, I've used silver pencils in the shop (and sometimes carpentry) for years. They're "Prismacolor -Verithin 753 Metallic Silver pencils". You can find them online (eBay can be a good bulk source), or at local arts and crafts shops.

[MrMldillman]

@FRUNTCASTER wow, almost missed this...Thanks, I'm gonna check these out! I'll let ya know when once I get 'em..

[stringsbytoby]

I am glad I subscribed to your channel. I just started welding, and I am glad that there are people out there with the patience to teach real skills.

Would heating the rod while you bend it allow you to put the heat where needed to make the rod bend more uniformly? I noticed a few bends weren't quite symmetrical. Not really a structural issue, just my attention to detail sees those things and wants to fix them.

[MrMldillman]

@stringsbytoby Yep, you said it...I should've adjusted my torch a bit and taken time to heat the rod a little more evenly. That would've allowed for a much prettier bend for sure. Thanks for watching and we'll see ya again next week.