Need help bending a small piece of steel..?

So today I cut a piece of steel out on the HAAS lathe at work. The piece is 1.85" long and threaded on both ends. The threads take up around 0.75" of the part if I remember correctly. One side is .25" of #10-32 threads and the other side is around .5" of 5/16-24 threads. The rest of the shaft is .3" in diameter and a slight portion angles up to .375" right before the 5/16-24 threads. I am not 100% sure what kind of steel it is, I think it's 4140, but not certain, just pulled it out of the scrap pile.. I need to put a slight bend in this piece. How would be the best way to go about this? Heat? Would really appreciate any help with this. Not sure if I asked in the right place, but it is gun related if that helps Thank you very much!

Ben

Trying to make a thread-in bolt handle? I'll venture that you have left the realm of machining and ware venturing into the forging technology world.

Thread nuts onto both ends, open up a vise just big enough to catch the nuts, heat (orange) and drive a 3/4" piece of round stock down the center with a heavy hammer.

Think of it as if you were bending the work-piece by wrapping the part around a round object. Only in this case, you are driving the round object into the work-piece.

At the very least, if you fail, you've got another chance at grabbing something out of the scrap pile.

Good luck

Once it's threaded into whatever it's going to be threaded into, does the orientation of the bend matter? Should you bend it after installation -- or after a trial installation?

Chip

press brake

Dulltool17 said:

Trying to make a thread-in bolt handle? I'll venture that you have left the realm of machining and ware venturing into the forging technology world.

Thread nuts onto both ends, open up a vise just big enough to catch the nuts, heat (orange) and drive a 3/4" piece of round stock down the center with a heavy hammer.

Think of it as if you were bending the work-piece by wrapping the part around a round object. Only in this case, you are driving the round object into the work-piece.

At the very least, if you fail, you've got another chance at grabbing something out of the scrap pile.

Good luck

Click to expand...

You mean one threaded end on one vise jaw and the other threaded end on the other vise jaw? Just making sure I am understanding correctly! Sounds like it would work really well! And you are correct it is a threaded bolt knob. Looks pretty goof straight but needs to be able to be bent. Will the #10-32 hold up to that beating you think? Me showing off my lack of knowledge here... Will the nuts keep it strong enough? Thanks I really appreciate the reply!

And I am marking it after I thread it in, just not super tightened down. I'll put the bend in the correct direction from the mark. I am afraid to bend after installed as the #10-32 is what is holding it into the actual handle. Would have gone bigger but not enough room to...

Ben

That press brake looks like the perfect way to do it on a large scale, if this works and I am able to sell these I'll have to look into that more!

Ben

press brake works on small scale for something that size , small hydraulic press like they sell at HF,
then just make a set of dies.

Thanks for the help! I'll look into those for this project!

Ben

Yes, Ben, I meant spanning the jaws like you described. A hydraulic press could work as well. Of course, if you have access to a press brake and the correct dies, you can do this without any effort. You'll be air-bending, not coining- in other words the punch, or top die, doesn't bottom out. If it does, there is a risk of shattering either punch or die.

Good luck!