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Cold brass bending.

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Blogman

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Pilgrim
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One thing I have not done is bending brass cold or otherwise. I need to have some of the pieces 90° to 180°
Can I gradually bend with cold brass or for the more extreme angles, hot?
 
Never bend brass hot. I anneal by heating to barely visible red in low light then waiting or quenching in waster. Makes no difference. Bend once then re-anneal. Repeat as needed.
 
Blogman said:
So bend the item cool then anneal to harden?
Click to expand...
Anneal means to soften. When I anneal brass, I take a different approach than Rich. I heat to red and then let it room cool. It will then be annealed. When you work it (bend/pound/shape it hardens. You then re anneal to soften again if further work needs to be done.
Flintlocklar:D
 
There is only one level of annealing that is obtained. Any working of the brass will harden the brass. So, you anneal the brass to work it one slight bend. You then anneal the brass to return the brass to the original annealed state to bend it some more. Bending brass is a time consuming process. You must be patient. There is no need to hurry. If you rush the job the first time, you will take plenty of time to do it the second time.
 
There are some tips on bending brass in this very department. Just scroll down about 15 or 16 threads to the one titled"Bending Wax Cast Trigger Guard Question". It is mainly about cast brass but you may find some pointers inside.
 
Brass, bronze and copper all "work harden".
The process of hammering the material thinner or thicker or bending actually hardens the material and with some alloys, this hardening can happen very quickly.

That is why, if you are going to bend the brass a lot, the others are suggesting that you stop and re-anneal it several times.
Unlike steel, quenching these materials does not harden them so if you want to speed up the annealing process it is ok to quench it in water.

As a side note, work hardening is the only way to make brass, bronze or copper harder.
 
Ok, cool, that finally got though to me. I'm really not a num-skull, I just get conflicted from my right to the left. Oh manure, forgot that, the left side burnt out.

Thank you guys for being patient with me.
 
Before annealing sheet brass, look at which way the grain is and cut the pieces after annealing so you're bending at 90 degrees to the grain. If the brass is bent parallel to the grain, the bend will have an "orange peel" look which is actually stretch marks.....the bend is weaker.

The grain direction on sheet brass is the same direction as the rolling lines.

Learned this as a tool and diemaker when building stamping dies.......whether brass or steel.....Fred
 
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