Easy Fork Blade Benders

Step 2 Bending the mandrel

Open up your bench vise to that the jaws are about 3" apart. This will let you hook the angle iron under the far jaw and give you something to lever against as you bend the 3/4" angle iron.

It should be obvious, but the open part of the angle iron should point up and you will be bending downwards to make a curved piece with a v-groove. It's self-explanatory from the pictures.

Put your biggest tip on the your torch and heat up a small section of the angle iron, about as wide as your flame width. As it turns red it should start to soften and you can put a slight bend it. Then move the torch over about an inch and get that part soft and put in another slight bend. Continue working your way down the angle iron until you have a nice curved section about 12-18" long. As you advance the flame along the angle iron, you can slide the material further into the vise.

You're shooting for something between a large dinner plate and 26" rim, depending on how much bend you're trying to get. I like to make the bend a little tighter at one end than the other, to give some adjustability depending on where you end up clamping the fork leg on the mandrel. I'd suggest something around 12" radius for starting out with.

Comments

[bgrasso]

i concur; this is probably one of my favorite photos ever. if michel gondry ever uses this site he'll feel one upped.

[razordu30]

This might be one of my favorite instructables pictures ever.