Thanks, Bruce & everybody else. I ended up going to home depot & getting a
5/16" x 36" mild steel rod. I used an angle grinder to cut off roughly 11
inches and I saved the rest of the rod in case I need it later (why throw
away $$?). I stuck the edge of the rod in the vise & secured it. I then
heated the area I was going to bend until I felt it was hot enough (not
glowing red, but I felt it was hot enough) and used the "pipe" from my
vehicle jack & stuck that on the end & made the desired bend. Worked like a
charm! I thought I was going to have to take it to a metal bending jig or
something, but nope! A little heat & a vise & pipe did the trick. I
*probably* could have done it without heating the rod first, but ah well...
heating it was more fun. I was actually needing to bend it because I didnt'
feel like paying $15 for a single exhaust hanger from Randall Ford & I
didn't even really wanna spend the $10 for an aftermarket hanger which I'd
hafta figure out how to rig up... plus making a custom hanger didn't seem
*that* difficult so I thought I'd put the welder to good use. Heating,
bending, and welding all in all took about 20-25 minutes and now my exhaust
is very stable again (I only had 1 side w/ a hanger for a few days & wanted
to stabilize the other side asap). Btw, the steel rod was $3.08 with tax.

So again, all of your recommendations/suggestions were awesome & I
appreciate it a ton =). Have a great day. Thx for saving me a few bucks!

-Mike

--
A happy kid behind the wheel of a 98 Mustang GT
Cold air intake
FRPP 3.73 gears
Steeda Tri-Ax Shifter
Flowmaster 40 Series mufflers (self-installed woohoo)
Hi-speed fan switch
255/60R-15 rear tires
Subframe connectors
Aluminum adjustable clutch quadrant


"Bruce L. Bergman" wrote in message
...
On 14 Jan 2005 06:35:00 -0800, "Bugs" wrote:
DanG wrote:
wrote in message
. com...

Lets say I have a small mild steel metal rod... about 1/3" in
diameter.. and I need to bend it in the middle about 45
degrees. What would be the easiest way to do this? Is there
any sort of 'bender' commonly available? Thanks!

Place in a vise. Slide pipe over the end that sticks out. Push
or pull as required.

This method can even be set up to be repeatable.

Or . . . . for a sharper bend, whang it with a sledge hammer.

If the temper of the steel isn't a huge concern, it may prove to be
a lot easier to heat the steel rod in the bend zone (1" either side)
with a propane or Oxy-Acetylene torch till red hot and somewhat
plastic, then bend it in a vise as suggested above. When good and
hot, that rod will fold like a flexy straw.

If you do need to re-temper, get it bent the way you want and then
heat again and quench in a bucket of water. If the ultimate strength
of this rod is very important, find out exactly what type steel you
have and follow the specific tempering steps required - may need to be
oil-quenched.

-- Bruce --

--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
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