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Anybody made a wood jig to bend 3/16" steel metal rod? Any photos would be appreciated.

wrmnfzy wrote:Anybody made a wood jig to bend 3/16" steel metal rod? Any photos would be appreciated.

I just stick a small rod like that either in the vise in the shop or stick it down through a hole in the tractor draw bar or on the bumper of the truck. And use a 20 pound sledge hammer if you want it a tighter radius. Anything bigger I just heat it to light red with the torch and bend it on the vice. Wood just doesn't work well for bending steel rods.

The last time I bent that sized rod, I went into the woods. I drilled a 3/16" hole into the tree of the size wanted the bend (actually a little smaller for "bounce back"), stuck the rod into the hole and just walked it around the tree. Job done. For that job I had to bend a 12" bend in both ends of 6 rods 4 feet long. Worked like a champ for me.

I would buy one and I will but of course I need this yesterday.

wrmnfzy wrote:Anybody made a wood jig to bend 3/16" steel metal rod? Any photos would be appreciated.

What is the required bend radius?

I love he tree idea. I would torch it or beat it senseless. BTW, I just got one of those Bernzomatic Mapp/Oxy torch kits. I must say it does work and work quite well. Fussy though and will burn up Oxy fast but still, will get a job done in a pinch.

4 - rt angles and one arc about the size of the bottom of a pint can (180 degrees), 3" radius.

I've had this for 40 years and you can build one. Use hardwood only as softwood will not hold the pressure particularly if you heat the rod. I recommend overlaying it with aluminum or steel but that isn't necessary if you do this only occasionally. Note the attachment. You may only want to produce the center section with the posts inserted into holes. Make sure that both the posts and the spaces between the posts that insert into the board are just slightly larger than what you want to bend. You can probably have them 1/2 inch if you are bending 3/8 rod (perhaps even more). How you position the posts determines the radius of the bend.

You will probably need to heat the rod before bending it. It doesn't need to be red but needs to be so hot that you probably can smell it.

This is one of the best jigs I ever ran across.

I'm ordering one very similar to it for next time. Might try to make one similar out of wood to see if I can use it. Right now the hurricane may be pushing plans back. Thx.