The Medway Handyman wrote:
If I bend a piece of 1" x 1/8" ms flat into an 'L' shape, how do I
make it stay that shape & not bend back when a load is applied?

Would I heat it to 'red', bend it, then quench it in water/oil? Or
bend it cold, heat it, quench it?

If you want to support a very light load, then you can bend hot or cold and
it should stay.

If you want to support a medium to heavy load, then flat metal will not
support that for any length of time.

But as usual, the qualifier is the length of the bar - the longer the loaded
end, the less load it will support before bending back.

As for "quenching" - that will not work on mild steel, the best you can do
is case harden it - and you will still not prevent it bending back.

Now perhaps you could tell the group some valuable information such as:

What is it to support?
How long are each of the legs?
Is the supported piece to be inside or outside the bend?

BTW, this sort of thing should be second nature to you.


Ah well. And I await the usual response from you