best alloy and technique for bending bronze

[mlplunkett]

Just found this forum and it looks like a great resource. I'm trying to replicate some straps/brackets used to bind a cluster of wooden elements into a column and wondering if I could use bronze straps rather than trying to protect steel from rusting since these will be out in the weather. I'm located in the deep south where rain and humidity are unavoidable. Any opinion on the best alloy and techniques for making some relatively sharp bends would be appreciated. Feel free to tell me I'm crazy for thinking this can be done with bronze. I'd also be interested in info about a source for the bronze if it turns out that this is a viable idea.

 

[Screwdriver]

You will need to get it red hot, ideally in a forge and then forge it. It is temperature critical, overheat and it will melt, too cool and it will crack. Bronzes also work harden very quickly so you'll be constantly reheating. Only way to be sure is to just do it!

Look forwards to seeing the results.

 

[mlplunkett]

I've got to make 22 sets of these. Might have to figure out a simpler plan. Is there a bronze alloy that is easier to work? One that can be annealed like aluminum?

 

[MattF]

All cupreous metals can be annealed. They all work harden, so need annealing occasionally whilst working them. Best to shape them whilst cherry/red hot. Much easier to bend & shape in that state, than when cold.

 

[Keith 66]

Some alloys like Gunmetal dont like being bent, they dont like being heated up either & crack up, I wrote of some lovely boat parts trying to straighten them out, Silicon bronze is said to forge easily ( technically its not a bronze but a copper alloy) But the cost is eye watering.

 

[Screwdriver]

I've got to make 22 sets of these. Might have to figure out a simpler plan. Is there a bronze alloy that is easier to work? One that can be annealed like aluminum?

All you are doing is bending metal. How much simpler can it get??

The example pictures you provide are beautifully crafted items. That sort of elegant simplicity is going to be difficult to achieve, even in cast or wrought steel. Multiply that at scale and the installation is going to be hilariously expensive.

You might consider a similar design but made from rebar using a dedicated bending jig. Let them rust....

 

[addjunkie]

Steel and galvanise

 

[Agroshield]

Draw a picture of the item.

Work out the minimum cross section of raw material you would need to make that shape.

Find that cross section in bronze of any specification.

For instance, if it needs 1 1/2" x 3/8" flat bar to make the item, can you buy that in bronze?

As for a source, your location is given in the USA. It might therefore be challenging for a primarily UK-based forum to supply this information. Look up non-ferrous metal suppliers in your country and start telephoning.

 

[frank horton]

Mr Plunkett....
welcome.....
those fitting look wonderful as they are...
Rural buildings in the SW France where I lived have many diffent fitting like those....
Some looked medieval.....they held Oak framed barns together...
I'd be making new, distress them, let em rust for a year, wire brush them and just wax em up....
best of both worlds...

 

[Wildefalcon]

Would one of those rusty stainless steels work better, corten, for example?

 

[Brad93]

Would one of those rusty stainless steels work better, corten, for example?

Corten isn't stainless, it is a CMn steel with additions of Copper which give the weathering effect.

 

[MattF]

Some alloys like Gunmetal dont like being bent, they dont like being heated up either & crack up, I wrote of some lovely boat parts trying to straighten them out

Did wonder about gunmetal as I was writing that.

 

[mlplunkett]

I'll look into the Corten. I knew there was a version of steel that developed a rusty looking surface but then essentially stopped rusting further. They use it in bridge construction and other structural work to avoid the lifelong maintenance of exposed steel. I just didn't know what it was called.
Sorry for the oversight but I hadn't realized that this was a european forum. Not the first time I asked a dumb question.

 

[Agroshield]

FWIW, some of the US blacksmithing forums might get you better results. Even if you post there acknowledging that bronze is not a black metal, you may receive some pointers.

Reading up a little bit, bronze is not so easy to forge as it becomes what is called 'hot short' so work hardens with heat.

See here for a little taster:

Brass and Bronze Forging Alloys : Metalworking Articles on anvilfire.com

Brass, Copper and Bronze Forging questions and answers with links. Definitions of Brass and Bronze and metallurgy.

www.anvilfire.com

 

[RWD3M]

No such thing as a dumb question!