Screwdriver
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I once sat in the engine room of a ship, listening to a horrendous hammering from topside, and was eventually asked to go and investigate. A rather hungover AB was attempting to straighten a ships ladder, made from 3/4” square bar rungs and 1/2” by 2” side rails.30 minutes pounding with a sledge produced nothing.
I showed him how to chain it to the deck, hook a chain around the bend, and slowly haul on it with a 5 ton winch, an inch at a time. Steel is a spring, you can pound on it all day, but unless it is held solid it will laugh at you.
Very true, a long hard push is what's needed. Since it has only been bent once with a single blow, in theory a single anti-blow in the exact opposite direction should straighten it perfectly. If you want to hammer it, you'd need a hammer the size of a small car. Rather than trying to generate that force using kinetic energy in a short sharp shock, a long slow torque will do the same job.
I have noticed this effect when straightening massive vice handles in the flypress. All the effort goes into setting it up, then just give it a bonk. The metal will "want" to bend where it already has and I surprise myself when a single firm shove makes it ruler straight in one go!