Plated Small Diameter Rod?

wawoodman

wawoodman

himself, himself
H-M Supporter Gold Member
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Mar 19, 2011
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I want to bend some pieces of rod for the front of spice racks. They would be about 11 inches long, with a simple downward bend on each end, to drop into holes on the shelf.

My idea is to use something around 1/8 or 3/16 round rod, and get a small tubing bender from Harbor Freight. I think I'll be able to bend solid rod, as well.

http://t.harborfreight.com/1-8-eighth-inch-to-1-4-quarter-inch-tube-bender-94571.html

Can anyone suggest a source for chrome, or otherwise shiny, rod?
 
Stainless steel welding rod is fairly soft and bends easily, polishes quickly and is readily available from welding supplies.
 
I've done something similar in the past using 303 stainless rod. Before bending I pre-polished the rod using my lathe and a series of Scotchbrite discs on my flex shaft tool, starting rather coarse and working my way finer. After the rods were bent, it was a simple matter to re-polish the areas that were marred by the bending process.

I do have my doubts about using the tubing bender, however. HF claims it is made of cast aluminum. I had one very similar to it and it broke trying to bend tubing, not to mention solid rod or wire.

I have one of these BAC rod benders for bending small wire and one of these larger HF benders also. They were both worth every penny I paid for them. They won't do tubing, but they are great for round, square, and rectangular stock.
 
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That is a tubing bender, not a rod bender. It is plastic and will not hold up. It WILL break.

"Billy G"
 
A +1 on the stainless welding rod. You can make a wooden (oak) jig with the bends all set up on the ends of the jig. Makes an easy way to control the length and make them all look the same…Dave.
 
A few nails in a 2 x 4 to form the bend and a bit of tubing to use as a handle will easily bend 1/8" rod accurately.
 
A piece of Alum plate, Two Bolts, and 4 bearings, Figure out what you want to bend it like then drill our holes in the plate and put the bolts in where there is just enough space between the bearings on each to help keep the Rod in between them. then you can bend it over one or the other, Also adding additional bolts and bearings will allow you to make secondary bends after the first. I have made setups like this to make special S hooks for hanging pots on a pot rack before.
 
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