Bending 3mm diameter S/S rod

Big_Nige · Post by **Big_Nige** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 2:59 pm

I want to bend some 3mm diameter Stainless Steel rod round a 22mm former.

Do I need to heat it? If so, what colour, and what do I do afterwards?

iceni · Post by **iceni** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 11:00 am

22mm dia is quite small to bend, but 3mm is also a small dia rod.

What angle do you want bend it round?

If 90deg then not a problem, but if you want to bend it through 360 then far more difficult.

How are you going to hold the rod and the former - or do you have a ready made fixture?

Hitch · Post by **Hitch** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:41 am

Id make a former up with a stop pin if you have a few to bend.
Youll need to keep the bar pulled in as tight to the former as possible, or you will get a lot of spring back in the rod and end up with an uneven bend much bigger than what you want.

Leave the ends long so you have plenty to hold onto to pull it round the former. You might want to go down a few mm on the former size beceause of spring in the rod. A bit of heat will reduce that though.
If you heat it, you should polish or pickle the heated and discoloured area..it wont take much.