Re: [ATM] bending rods

[Michael Lindner <mikell@optonline.net>]

On Thu January 6 2005 9:30 am, Ken Lowther wrote:
> This could be a method for getting some very large worm gear assemlbies. No
> more need for  molded gears?  Bend all-thread.

Sorry to get in on this conversation so late - had a busy week until now. I 
made a 3 wheel roller as follows. I took 3 sliding door track wheels (steel 
wheels with a bearing in the center and the edges have a 1/4" diameter 
concavity. I mounted them on the sides of 2x4s which were then attached at 
one end with a hinge. By squeezing on the open end with a vise I could 
control the spacing of the wheels and thus the bending radius.

I built this to bend 1/4" brass all thread to make a bent rod barn door drive. 
I never finished the project, but the rod bent beautifully and smoothly, 
without any damage to the threads whatsoever. I did make many passes adding 
just a touch more curvature each time until the rod matched a template I had 
made.

One downside is that the bend can't start until the material runs across all 
three wheels. In my case, that meant sacrificing about 8" from each end of 
the rod. I had no problems with "corkscrewing", but that may be due to the 
concave nature of the rollers mating with the all thread.

-- 
Michael Lindner
http://www.starastronomy.org *** http://home.att.net/~mikel
http://www.atmsite.org *** http://www.atmlist.net
_______________________________________________
ATM mailing list http://www.atmlist.net/