Old fashion bending

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On a thread I had about building a table someone asked about bending.  I finished some railing for a courtyard for a builder and they asked about making a planter stand to put on the porch of the model home. It would take bending a circle and four legs. This is a good low tech way to make bends and I thought some of the newer guys to welding would like to see how. You need a piece of thick wall square tubing just a few inches tall and a hammer, thats it. Oh yea, a strong arm and a good eye dont hurt either.The smaller the material, the smaller the tubing size. Were working with 1 1/2"x1/4" flat strap. Draw the circle and the legs you want first. This gives you a constant to compare to. Set the strap across the square tubing and whack it with the hammer. You can see by the pictures that you want the hammer blows fairly uniform. I hit it about 1/2" apart and then go over it in between those blows. Check it to the drawing.By striking the strap in differant places you can make adjustments in your bend to duplicate to your drawing. It's really quite easy and very fast after you get used to it.The circle had to be a size that I didn't have a pipe to bend around so I bent it around a larger piece and adjusted it on the bending tube to the size that I needed.I welded the legs to the ring and then welded rivet looking globs on the strap to make it look riveted on and it was done. Attached Images
Reply:And heres the finished product. Spritz it with muriatic acid, leave over night to rust up, rinse with water and it's exactly what they want. Attached Images
Reply:wow very nice. good knowledge to share.
Reply:Bob,   That's damn good work (fencing and planter). Good job.
Reply:Thank you for that - excellent "trick". I can see hundreds of uses for that method. I will be trying this next week for sure.
Reply:looks great is that 6" tubing
Reply:Yes that one is 6",but I have them in 3" to 8" for different size material and different radius bend. They are all beveled on the inside edge so they wont mar the stock. You can actually bend circles with it if you bend around a pipe close to what you need and finish it on the bending block. It's really low tech but it works really well.
Reply:I've done something similar using the jaws of my vise. I like the dedicated square tube idea, guess what I'll be hunting for next time I'm in the scrapyard. Thanks for posting. Any chance you have a pic of it with the muratic acid finish?If you don't want to stand behind our Troops, feel free to stand in front of them.
Reply:They are all beveled on the inside edge so they wont mar the stock. Thanks for this simple comment. Gotta love the internet. 9-11-2001......We Will Never ForgetRetired desk jockey. Hobby weldor with a little training. Craftsman O/A---Flat, Vert, Ovhd, Horz. Miller Syncrowave 250
Reply:No SWells but heres a light fixture I built a few months ago with the rusted look.There is a 2.2 million dollar house this light fixture is at the entrance of. I dont know why they like the rust. I think powder coat would look better, but to each hie own. Attached Images
Reply:Sorry, thats not the right picture as that one is not through rusting. I'll try again. Attached Images
Reply:This is it. It matches the other one but is on the house on either side of the garage.
Reply:Thanks Bob, that heIps with one of my projects. I agree if it was my house I'd powdercoat too.If you don't want to stand behind our Troops, feel free to stand in front of them.
Reply:i like em some things just look cheep powder coated those look hefty and old like thay have been there for years and will be there for years moreChuckASME Pressure Vessel welder
Reply:The elegance of rust is that is deffinately one of a kind.  wether it be color, pattern, or any other aspect, Rust is a very special finish.  And there are many types of ways to achieve rust and rust looks.  I think I may start a thread that everyone can share the way they rust things.
Reply:I vote power coat myself.  Living in Florida.  My new welding table, built it two days ago (sitting outside of the full garage in the weather) looked like that when I went to paint it today.  Lots of sanding and high heat paint.  Next time I might opt for SS.  It was a pretty orange though.And no chemicals were used to rust it, just the Florida salty humid air.Anyway. Bob know the deal, give them what they want and get a check.
Reply:Really nice work!!... I kinda like the rust, it looks good with the stone, although I would be worried about streaking and staining on the wall. Once the desired rusting was achieved, could it be sealed with something???
Reply:Although I've never tried it on rusty metal, my powder coat guy tells me you can clear powder coat over the rust. I gotta try that on something.  I've used clear powder coat over cleaned up steel, gives a really nice look as well. Places where the metal got hot,either from welding or aggresive grinding before sanding gives a nice look too.
Reply:From memory (which can let me down oocasionally) the old fashioned way to treat a musket barrel was to use an acid of some description to cause surface rust then steam it. This apparently killed the rust and kept it from getting worse but it had the brown patina.Might be worth looking into, I'm sure there was section in Machinery's Handbook about it.Clive
Reply:Originally Posted by cliveFrom memory (which can let me down oocasionally) the old fashioned way to treat a musket barrel was to use an acid of some description to cause surface rust then steam it. This apparently killed the rust and kept it from getting worse but it had the brown patina.Might be worth looking into, I'm sure there was section in Machinery's Handbook about it.Clive
Reply:Try phosphoric acid. It's a rust converter. It'll turn 'red' rust somewhat darker but if done thoroughly provides a nice shell for temporary preservation and drastlically slows that heavy scaling that isn't so desirable appearance wise. Should be great for desert areas.It requires slightly more effort than what you might be able to bill for and a good job of preservation is a bit more intense than some are willing to give it. It isn't a "wet and forget" process at all. It's all about keeping wet for extended periods of time with out letting a spot dry out till you think you're done. I use the off the shelf varieties that have wetting agents to help it disperse and other agents in there to help it stay wetter longer. They also have cleaning agents that you wouldn't necessarily need for these antiquing projects. If a guy wants to cheap down and replace cash out put with labor you can get the gallon jugs of the pool and tile cleaning variety and even cut the mixture quite a bit. You just have to baby sit it more is all, especially in hot weather.Do not use on gun barrels.
Reply:good work
Reply:i would a powdercoated too, i guess they haven't had the same experiences we've all had with rust.
Reply:You do really nice work.On the bending:When I moved  to AR from VA, I broke a spring on my trailer.  Found a guy in TN who had two RR tracks welded side by side with a slot in the center.  His biceps were bigger than my thigh.  Using a 16 lb. sledge in one hand he bent me a new spring in 10 minutes. I also had him make two helper springs. He charged me $30. I wish he were on here as we could probably learn a lot from him. I digress.Really fantastic work you do.  I may even attempt to copy your light some day.A butterfly without wings, is just an ugly bug