Bending Thick Metal

[Beltzington]

Hi All -

After two seasons finally got around to removing my LX6 RC tail mount to try and straighten the wheel bracket (bought it that way.) Short story is after several minutes of heat via gas blow torch (no cutting air) I burned some paint but no way the bracket would budge. Heated the metal to cherry red where the flame was but seemed cool to quickley by the time I tried to straighten the metal. I do have several other gas tips but have never installed them or know how they should be used.

Options are:

Figure out what I am doing wrong

Leave it be and remount, I have used it for three seasons but it makes the RC jump when changing directions and I believe puts undo strain on the 3-point

Take it to someone who knows what there doing and hope they have better luck then I.

Spend $200 for a Deere replacement wheel bracket and pay someone to weld it back on.

Picture should clarify my problem. TIA

 

[Craig Clayton]

Depending upon your skills and tools, I would cut it off with a mini grinder and weld a new piece of steel back in its place.
It must have taken quite a hit for it to be bent so bad.

At our plant we had a brand new 4000 LBS manual pump truck that a contractor used to lift something on one fork. This bent the lower SOLID LIFT ARM. I asked if I could have it for scrap. I used the mini grinder to remove the WELDED arm. I only made a minor error when I had to heat a bushing end and slightly distorted the 1" bushing.
I fixed the bush ,rewelded the arm ,and leveled the forks.

Its action is as smooth as new.

Craig Clayton

 

[gwdixon]

I had the same thing to fix on a neighbor's Bush Hog.

The O/A cutting tip really poor for general heating and is designed to do far different things. Try a rosebud tip. Here is one from Harbor Freight.

Oxygen/Acetylene Heating Tip #6

It really goes through the fuel but also really puts out the heat. Use a hammer to beat the frame straight once it gets cherry red over a large area.

It looks like you'll need to do it to both sides.

 

[tcreeley]

You may want more heat than cherry red. That really is not very hot and cools quickly. Shoot for an orange heat to yellow heat if you want to bend it. Figure out your hammer strokes or bends before you heat it. If it was me- and I don't care much for torches as a source of heat, I'd use a coal forge for blacksmithing. It can easily heat the area an anvil is great to work on. If you use the torch watch out for too rapid cooling- can make the steel brittle or crack. Good luck.
Cutting and re-welding is not a bad idea like someone mentioned.

 

[Hollow]

I had the same problem using a cheap torch set, I stepped up and bought a Harris MOD85 torch and the difference is like night and day. It would take a 4lb hammer beating as hard as I could to make a good sharp bend in 2," 1/4" flat iron with a full minute of heating, with the Harris about 15 seconds and two whacks with the same hammer and it's bent 90 degrees.

 

[Beltzington]

Appreciate your replies. I do not have an electric welder so I am limited on refabing the mount.

I do not have a Rosebud but do have a Smith 13-3 special duty tip. Would this work or should I buy a rosebud.

Can't get much better then my Smith OA setup so I do not think it is the equipment could certainly be the operator.

 

[k0ua]

Please be sure your acetylene tank is large enough to support a large rosebuds draw rate. Remember the 1/7 rule. (some now say 1/10 rule) to not draw more than 1/7 of your tanks total cubic foot capacity in one hour.

James K0UA

 

[ridger]

buy a rosebud

 

[yomax4]

Buy a Propane Rose Bud and hook your Acetylene Regulator to your Gas Grill tank and not worry about the 1/7 rule. I will get the job done if you cant cut and replace.:thumbsup:

 

[JB4310]

Never needed a rose bud, I have one but never needed it, and I've bent all kinds of very heavy pieces of steel up to 1 inch and over. Trick is the flame set up, less oxygen than cutting flame, you don't want the multiple small cones, just one longer cone. so you don't start blowing molten metal. No need to increase the line pressure either.

Orange hot metal bends like wet clay.

Just looked at the picture, for that small area why would a rosebud be needed??
OP will need a large vise to hold the part, never do it with that nylon strap on a ply wood table, can't manipulate thick steel like that But with all the leverage available there it would be easy to pull that back. IMO of course.

 

[Willl]

Got that same tail wheel frame almost bent up just like that in my garage. Only mines off a LX5.

Was going to try to straighten and decided just to rebuild instead.
Much easier and better results.

I see you don't have a welder, but you could if you wanted get the pieces cut and fitted and take someplace to get welded ?

 

[Shield Arc]

Looking in the back ground of your picture, it's obvious you're not geared up for this type of repair. I would remove the unit from its frame work. Heat it cherry red, use bridge clamps to clamp it to my 3/4-inch thick welding table. Beat the high spots out first, then shim it with the proper size shims and use the clamps to remove the low spots.

 

[Willl]

Or like SA said, have at again with a bigger hammer sorta speak.

How big a tip you using ?, those your acy/oxg tanks in the back ground ?

 

[sparc]

I see a few of you have or are in the same boat. This would seem to point to a design problem.

 

[Willl]

This would seem to point to a design problem.

Mine was placement of stump hidden under fir tree branches.

Stumps fault, blame him.

 

[Beltzington]

Looking in the back ground of your picture, it's obvious you're not geared up for this type of repair.

Seems to be restating the obvious point of this thread, yes?
Not sure I'm inclined to construct a blacksmith furnace or a full metal shop for at worst a $200 repair or why my plywood over saw-horse is not sturdy enough to shape wet clay but I get the drift. Better vise, more heat and a bigger hammer. :laughing:

I'll give the less O2 and less pressure a shot with my torch and if that doesn't work I'll get a rosebud. Yes, those are my full size tanks in the background purchased from a real welder who changed professions.

Keep the comments coming.

 

[F250DSLPWR]

If you have access to a 20 ton or heavier duty hydraulic press, you should be able to straighten it up in short order. You will still need to get it cherry orange yellow hot and you can bend it. For that repair, I personally would probably just cut it apart and weld in a new piece. That might be the fastest way to do it. Measure the piece first and write down the dimensions. Then use a cut off wheel and grinder and cut the legs off at the same angel they are welded on. Cut thru the weld and all right up next to the bent flat piece. Then cut the bent piece off the shaft. Grind off the shaft smooth. With a piece of new material cut to the right length drill new hole for the shaft. Now space the distance between the legs, square them up and clamp them together. Now weld on the legs to the flat bar. Lastly weld on the shaft. Hope this helps.

 

[Gary Fowler]

With that short distance and the double curve S bend in the thick plate, I think you are wasting your time trying to straighten it without a large vise to hold it or a press. It will be cheaper to have the plate replaced. If I were in your situation, I would take it for replacement. If your skills with the torch are good, you could grind off the ears on each side and then cut the coupling out of the base plate, clean it up to remove all the old metal with a grinder. Take the side plates and coupling to a welding shop to fab up a new one. Take accurate measurements on the width and centerline of the coupling prior to cutting. The angle wouldnt matter as it is already on the side plates if you just grind off the weld metal and remove them, they can be quickly welded back on. I rebuilt one of these for my brother-in-law and it took about an hour to cut off the old coupling, clean it up and reinstall. Welding time was less than 15 minutes. You could save yourself lots of money by having all the pieces cut and cleaned so all the welding shop has to do it put them together. If you dont have the thicker plate scrap piece laying around, the welding shop likely will.

 

[rambler]

A concern is you have a rather complex bend in some stout steel. As you straighten it out, those 2 parrallel straps may no longer be parrallel and it will be very difficult to line up your wheel shaft any more?

If you had access to a 20 ton press, this would be an easier repair. One can slowly press things into place, stopping and correcting as you go.

With heat & a hammer on such a piece of metal with limited anvil and experience, you might be in over your head to get this 'right'.

If you have independent welding shops by you as I do, the cheapest would be to take it to one of them, about $75 or less would get it either straightened or the top bent piece would be cut off and replaced with new, everything kept lined up.

Perhaps I'm stating the obvious as well, but I think you will have a very hard time getting the multiple bends out and keep both arms parallel with what you have.

If you are heating, you just keep the tip moving, make bigger circles with it, keep covering more area, come back briefly to already heated areas until it keeps getting hotter, and bigger area. Can take some time to get a big piece thourghly heated, gotta move the tip a lot but slowly, it becomes a pattern to keep working in more surface.

I work with oxy-lp as some mentioned, be safe with the acet. gases as mentioned.

--->Paul

 

[timster2]

This is a simple fix for an equipped shop. That said perhaps a trip to you local welding shop and a few dollars spent will fix your part and stimulate the economy . To save time and a few bucks take it apart and clean the part as best you can. I think you could get this fixed for less than the price of a good rosebud.