Bending spring steel, help......

[DrNik]

I've got an antirollbar that's a thick as a broom handle and need it bending so it misses my engine, how do I do it, or can we have a willing volunteer??

 

[AndyStobbs]

It'll have to be bent cold presumably to retain its properties. Big stout bench and a big long lever.

 

[the snooper]

I've got an antirollbar that's a thick as a broom handle and need it bending so it misses my engine, how do I do it, or can we have a willing volunteer??

here is your volunteer

 

[AndyStobbs]

Perhaps if you know someone with an excavator they could use the boom or wedge it in the bucket linkage or slew round etc. Either way it isn't going to be a 5 minute job.

 

[DrNik]

I have a minidigger that could use as a vice, I also have my tube bender that could be used to gently persuade the antirollbar bar, I'm told that I shouldn't be bending it near the 90 degree elbow but further up, where there is less stress, I have a spare antirollbar bar just incase

 

[nickk]

you'll have to anneal it first,then after bending re -temper it not sure what temp'[maybe approx 280degrees], you'll need to clean the surface back to bright then as you heat it watch for the colours to appear on the surface telling you your at the correct temp' then you can quench in tepid water

 

[DrNik]

you'll have to anneal it first,then after bending re -temper it not sure what temp'[maybe approx 280degrees], you'll need to clean the surface back to bright then as you heat it watch for the colours to appear on the surface telling you your at the correct temp' then you can quench in tepid water

Now that sounds far too technical to me, bending it with a long length of scaffold tube is more my style

 

[julianthegypsy]

I'd heat it up, bend it, then clean it up, heat it a bit then quench it in oil. Less technical

 

[brightspark]

I'd heat it up, bend it, then clean it up, heat it a bit then quench it in oil. Less technical

its not that simple it must be heated up to the correct temperature or it will either snap or be a soft as sh . t and have no spring and may bend

 

[hotrodder]

How much do you need to bend it? Are we talking a proper change of shape or just a gentle bow for clearance?

Very crudely spring steel just means that the yield strength has been raised a chunk i.e. the elastic range is much larger but the yield point is now much closer to snapping point. In other words if you find a way of bending it cold it's more likely to crack or even snap unless talking small tweaks

If it needs bending a lot to fit then you might well get away with heating the thing up properly, bending it and just letting it cool in air (normalising). Yes the heat treatment will be locally destroyed however changing it's shape is often kinda like shortening (stiffening) it... the bent ends of anti roll bar are effectively levers while the straight(ish) bit in the middle functions as a torsion spring. Put a bend in the middle to go around something and you effectively shorten the working length i.e. the bit you softened is taken out of the loop somewhat or to put it another way the softened section is locally stiffened some due the bend

If it's just a gentle tweak that's needed then i'd warm it up a bit to make life a little easier but not too much to avoid drawing too much temper out of it. I make slappers/planishing spoons this way out of old leaf springs, a bit of heat to make it easier to bend but keep an eye on the colour to avoid drawing to much temper out of it

 

[DrNik]

I'll take a picture and show a before and after.

 

[Bill Edwards]

Be very careful. Snapping an anti roll bar might see silly, but when you try to cold bend spring steel it either bends or breaks. When it breaks, you may end up with shrapnel flying with a lot of energy.

Really it should be heated up then hardened and tempered afterwards, but clearly you don't want to do this and it may be impractical due to the size/length of the bar.