Speaking of Blacksmithing

Yeah, not really.  I was just bending some rod using a rosebud to heat up the bend points to make a new handle for my roll around compressor.
I was always paranoid to just grab the rod with my hand and bend it, but after watching a gazillion and three blacksmith videos during my morning coffee over the years I decided to give it a try.  I think point heating the bend points with a rosebud puts less heat down the rod than welding does.
Clamp the rod in the vise.  Make the bend point glow red (little past dull red) grab the end and bend.  After several bends it started to get a little hot where I was grabbing, but that's what the wash sink outside is for.
I know.  I know.  You all knew this already.
One thing that would make this go faster is to make a hanger for the torch, so I can just set it aside and leave it burning when I need both hands to move something around, or hold the part while I loosen and tighten the vise.  Still it was pretty fast.
Now I need to do it all over again with a piece of stock that is actually the right size.
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Bob La Londe
CNC Molds N Stuff
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