Rebar

[Mick Annick]

I have never worked with the stuff, but need to make three manhole steps and thought it would be ideal given it would provide a non-slip surface, but does it bend (hot) OK and do I need anything special in the way of rods to weld it (MMA)? Plan is to bend them up into staples and weld sides on them in mild flat to stop your foot slipping off sideways.

They’re not going in an actual manhole - they’re for a granite wall for the garden I installed the railings for last week, currently the guy climbs the wall to get up to the top level of the garden as the alternative is a 300m walk through town…

 

[gaz1]

you need to consider enough into the wall and also enough to support the middle of the foot

5-6" stuck out and 5" inside of the granite wall which is filled with wall grip

i cant remember the correct name for it

Pardon our interruption...

Products - Manhole Steps - Deeter Foundry

Deeter Foundry manufactures a wide variety of cast iron products for the municipal and construction sectors.

www.deeter.com

 

[Pete.]

Rebar bends just fine cold, it's designed to.

 

[minimutly]

Rebar bends just fine cold, it's designed to.

Yeh but it takes some doing, even 1/2 inch is quite stiff

 

[Beanwood]

I mig-welded some last weekend. I found it had to be really clean, and I also found taking off the ridges worked better for me.

 

[Mick Annick]

Yeh but it takes some doing, even 1/2 inch is quite stiff

It’ll be going in the forge first - I need to go and see what sizes they have in stock, but thinking something around 16mm

 

[nickk]

Pity you weren’t local,I’ve loads of offcuts,easy to bend cold,if you don’t have a bender,place in vice,slip a big ring spanner over,or a piece of tube.

 

[Pete.]

Guys on site make a bending tool by getting a piece of 20/25mm rebar about 4 foot long. They cut two pieces off the end about an inch and a half long and weld them on the side, one on the end and he other about an inch and a half away. I've also seen a 5 foot scaffold tube with a notch cut in the side used for it too.

 

[Mick Annick]

Thanks Nick, though I can probably get what I need in exchange for a bottle of cheap red wine!

 

[Agroshield]

Minimum radius for cold bending here (Table 2):

BS8666 Shape Codes – KB Rebar Limited

kbrebar.co.uk

Info. on welding here:

UK CARES | Certification for the Construction Industry

 

[George A2Y]

If you can manage the bending easily then you may not need any welding. If you imagine staples stuck in the wall but with the legs bent down 90 degrees about 40 or 50 mm before the step, then the step would be lika a stirrup with its own sides.

 

[Mick Annick]

If you can manage the bending easily then you may not need any welding. If you imagine staples stuck in the wall but with the legs bent down 90 degrees about 40 or 50 mm before the step, then the step would be lika a stirrup with its own sides.

George

Good idea, I did google manhole steps and saw some done like that - seems to be only the flat cast ones have sides. They’ll also be a bit more discreet, the owner wants them to blend in as much as possible.

 

[Cobbler]

I’ve made various garden things with rebar, obelisks & that sort of thing, I’ve stick welded it without a problem. I tried mig, but I found arc better, I’ve only got a 150a welder though.