Rear Strut Brace, Part the Second
Yesterday, I bent up the poles for my braces. And that’s pretty much all I did on the project. Between a couple unexpected conversations I had less time than I expected. But who cares? My goal is to do this well, and the project will take all the time it needs to. The result of yesterday’s work was quite excellent, as well!
First things first, an oxy-acetylene torch!
The flame is a little washed out due to the brightness of it, but you get the idea. I adjusted the flame (by changing the ratio of oxygen and acetylene) until I had a cone in the middle between 1 and 2 inches long, or around there, I didn’t exactly break out a measuring stick to see what it was. I set up a couple of workhorses to lay the tube on. I used my template to mark the bend points with a permanent marker. The flame of the torch isn’t something you should look at directly, so I used my welding helmet to be able to look closely at what I was doing. Even without the dimming (it auto-dims), things viewed through the helmet don’t have a sense of glowing, just a change of color or tone. I heated the tube until it glowed yellow as I could see it through the helmet, the torch placed so that the tip of the cone was about a 1/16″ from the surface of the steel. Another way I judged the temperature was the color of the flame coming off the tube where the torch hit it. When the torch first hits the tube, the flame looks colorless as it goes around the tube. As the tube warms up, the flame turns a deep orange and flies off the sides of the tub in huge wings. When the tube gets even hotter, the flames disappear where it is heated the most. This is the point I was aiming for.
Once I got the tube at the temperature I wanted, I extinguished the torch, set it down, grabbed some Vice-Grip pliers, and bent the tub by hand. I used the other markings on the tube to determine which way was “up”. I had to do all this quite quickly, as the steel began to cool the moment I removed the torch from it. It usually took about 2 cycles (heat and bend) to get each bend the way I wanted it. The last 2 or 3 I was able to make in a single bend.
Above is the steel still glowing after my final bend. I have no idea what the flaky stuff is on it, it came up every time I made a bend. If someone knows, tell me! I was really happy with how the bends came out; there were no flat spots. Each bend is smooth.
The final piece (one of two). All I have to do now is weld the two pieces together with the standoffs, and then trim the edges and test fit it with the plates. Once I have the pieces fit, I just need to weld the plates on and it will be ready to be cleaned, painted and installed!
