rapid heat from electricity

[fanvil]

Howdi all ! In short: I want to know if it would be possible to rapidly heat a 8mm mild steel rod in order to make 90 degree bends, for making a frame. Like they do in the car assembly factories to join certain metal objects, almost like welding. Would it be possible to do something like that from a normal 220v power supply ?

 

[dknguyen]

Might not be the safest thing...you know bare steel rod, 220V. I don't know if it would get hot enough either. Can't you just use a torch or lighter over the section of rod you want to bend?

And is it tempered (music wire wire is tempered)? Heating it will destroy the temper. You can just get a music wire bender and cold-bend it.

 

[BrownOut]

That sort of heating can be done with an induction heater. But that's an expensive solution.

 

[tcmtech]

A regular general purpose propane torch would be your cheapest and best option for a rod that size.

 

[fanvil]

nope, not tempered. just mild steel.

 

[fanvil]

propane ? is it different from acetylene ? and cheaper ?

 

[Jaguarjoe]

Propane is not as hot as Acetylene. Propane, or better, MAP gas (hotter) is readily available at any hardware or department store very cheap. Acetylene must be purchased at an industrial gas supplier.

Years ago I worked at a steel mill that had induction slab reheaters. 6-20mw, 6-10mw, and 6-5mw heaters would take a 20ft X 5ft X 1ft slab of steel from ambient to 2000F in 20 minutes.

 

[gary350]

I do a lot of metal work and you can bend an 8mm mild steel rod using 2 hand held propane torches like you can buy at any hardware store, Wal Mart, K Mart and other places. The burner tips are not all the same some get much hotter than others you need the type they sell at plumbing supply stores. Here is an ebay photo this torch will burn mapp gas or propane. I use 2 of these with propane to get the BTUs I need it only takes a few minutes to get hot enough to bend steel.

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This one is cheaper but very hard to use because the torch does not swivel on the head so it is very hard to set it on the work bench and get the flame on the metal part where you need heat. If you do brazing or silver solder you need 1 hand free to hold the solder. If you bend metal you need 1 hand free to make the bend.

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This is a good one at the right price.

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