bending 10mm steel,

[vin]

I apologies in advance if this sonuds daft but im making a spare wheel carrier to fit on to a tow hitch on my mga, the problem is that it is 10 mm x 100mm flat bar that im using and i have no way to bend it, my plan is to cut just over half way through leaving about 4mm and bend it in the vice and then weld up the gap witch will be on the out side of the 90 degree angle, my question is will this be as strong as it would be if the bar had been bent by a press and if not is it still accepable, thanks for any advice

 

[Welderpaul]

Yes, as long as the weld is good, it will be as strong as if it had been bent.

 

[gordon stephenson]

10mmX1000mm seems a little heavy for just a spare wheel, But I use the method you have mentioned quite a lot, I would in your case only leave about 1mm uncut and then you are getting a good amount of penetration for the weld, Usually not cutting right thro' can be very handy as you don't have to hold separate pieces for welding.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

10mmX1000mm seems a little heavy for just a spare wheel,

x 2, esp when you consider the thickness used by some car makers to suspend spare wheels under the boot floor [I'm thinking Peugeot, but I'm sure there are others].

 

[Furry Freak]

I do this a lot when making 4x4 bumpers, carriers etc. But I have noticed that sometimes if you leave too much uncut, it can start to tear a little. So best to cut quite deep if you are bending it cold so that you don't leave a weakness in the bend. If you were welding it from two pieces, after all, you would have to weld right through and you'd consider that strong enough. I cut until it bends easily, whatever the thickness. I would think that a 90 degree bend in 10mm might need a couple of passes to fill it? (or fillet!)

FF

 

[Welderpaul]

I would think that a 90 degree bend in 10mm might need a couple of passes to fill it? (or fillet!)

Cut the slot on the inside of the bend so the uncut section forms a neat bend on the outside. Make the cut fairly wide then a single run of weld needed on the inside to hold it in place.

 

[vin]

Thanks a lot to everyone for the help, 10mm x 100mm does seem over the top i know but its going to stand alone mounted on a tow hitch and i dont want it to wave about,(ill post a picture of it if i dont make a compleat ****s up), Vin

 

[Uniqueusername]

Either laser disk the outside of the bend leaving only about 2mm so it bends easily and doesn't tear like Furry said above.
This works well, but if you really want original levels of strength it can be difficult to get a 10mm weld throat in one pass, especially at the ends where any failure would start.
It's never been an issue for me though and I don't tend to worry about it.
Or
Grind out a pretty big (bigger than you think) V in the back of the bend, close it up to about 87* and weld it up, getting penetration can be tricky and it WILL close up quite a bit when the weld cools