John Landstrom Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Who here is good at straightening bent cages ? Preferably they live stateside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Shirey Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 You can straighten it yourself. It just takes lots of patience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Landstrom Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 9 hours ago, Lane Shirey said: You can straighten it yourself. It just takes lots of patience. Yes, I’ve been trying with a couple of cages and come “close”. Would appreciate pics and advice on what blocks/hooks/techniques people use to straighten their cages. Including straightening to round as well as centering the front ring to the rear ring. On another note I’m gonna PM you regarding a very old post that I happened on regarding another subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Huber Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Huber Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 If the guard ring is bent inward, hang it on the hook and work it back and forth on the hook using both hands to reshape it. If the ring is bent outward, one hand on both sides of the ring bend pressing inward reshaping it against lets say the edge of the work bench. Common sense thinking.🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Shirey Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 (edited) I use a hook like Russ shows, the corner of one of my wood benches, an anvil with a dead blow hammer. If it’s a polished cage you can throw a piece of carpet over the anvil. For brass cages, a heavy set of welding gloves allows you to use your hand to do most of the shaping. S wires are reshaped by hand. A light deerskin set of tig welding gloves is also useful if you’re doing a lot of reshaping by hand. Just be very careful of any brass cages where the s wires are pierced through the rear ring. They become work hardened at the piercings and will often break at that point. On steel cages it is highly likely you’ll break spot welds. I have a spot welder to repair them like factory, but you could make friends with a sheet metal shop and they’ll likely repair the spot welds for little money. It looks far better than trying to mig weld or silver solder them. Edited January 25 by Lane Shirey 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Landstrom Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 Russ and Lane, Thanks for the replies. I’ve got two of those hooks in a ceiling beam in the garage that I’ve been using. Trial and error. Many of my “pulls” ended with a peaked spot due to the small (3/8”) circumference of the hook. Was wondering if anyone had made something to use the more closely matched the final bend or made it easier not to get peaks in the pulls. Im assuming I’ll get “don’t pull so hard” as one answer and trust me I’ve tried to use as little force as necessary. This subject might be good subject for a workshop with hands-on learning at one of the upcoming fan meets. Of course I’d much prefer that it be held here in Washington so I could attend…..just sayin….. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sherwood Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 I use the handle on my vise. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Shirey Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 32 minutes ago, Steve Sherwood said: I use the handle on my vise. Hadn’t thought of that. Good idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Landstrom Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 My vice ! Got one of those ! I’ll be trying that. i may cut a curve on some of my scrap wood as well to try that out. I can make it any size and shape. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave McManaman Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 I use a rubber coated larger hook, like you might hang a bicycle fro so as not to scratch the frame. The larger hook gives a bit more surface area to avoid sharp bends and the coating helps keep it in position. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Dunlap Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 (edited) These are the tools I use. Edited January 27 by Bill Dunlap 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Braswell Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 6 hours ago, Bill Dunlap said: These are the tools I use. Bill What type anvils are those? What are they called? Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Landstrom Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 Scott, Google “auto body hand tools” and you’ll see plenty of them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Butler Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Knipex makes a smooth jaw lever action channel lock type pliers that squeeze flat up and down. They don’t have a curved jaw like most. They are good on small kinks and for reattaching crimped on badges like GE’s. Even an old pair of hands can get great grip with these. 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Landstrom Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Shirey Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 1 hour ago, Steve Butler said: Knipex makes a smooth jaw lever action channel lock type pliers that squeeze flat up and down. They don’t have a curved jaw like most. They are good on small kinks and for reattaching crimped on badges like GE’s. Even an old pair of hands can get great grip with these. 😉 They are pricey, but I bought the set of 3 about a year ago and use them all the time! They’re so precision and they’re parallel jaw so they never round off any edges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Butler Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 3 hours ago, John Landstrom said: Sorry John, I wasn’t implying that you are old. I was implying the average age of the club is old! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Landstrom Posted January 29 Author Share Posted January 29 Steve, No need to apologize. I am old ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Borg Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 I have a pen plotter at work that I use to make a template, although I imagine simpler methods of making circles on paper are equally valid. With the template of the outer (and drop ring), i trace 1 spoke and rotate around and trace the same one again, etc. Ensures they're all identical once drawn in. By placing the cage atop the template I can make sure all my adjustments render a good shape. Beats eyeballing it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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