flattening steel

[brokenbiker]

right, some of you have already seen my attempt at making a tool to flatten/straighten the bit of gas bottle i have cut out of a 47kg bottle...

i have given up on this method as although i now have nice strong welds that havent broken or even started to crack...the 20mm box section just isnt man enough for the job...

i have made a bit of progress with it on the ends of the steel but it is still miles form being relatively flat and the tool i made is bent and twisted to the point where it doesnt work anymore...

i want the steel flat so i can make a stand to allow me to use my jigsaw as a sort of band saw, mount it underneath with blade sticking up through a plate, some legs etc so i can make some more accurate cuts when i need to cut out odd shapes etc...

anyway, need a way of flattening the steel i have, i dont have an anvil or anything substantial to use an an anvil, and the only mallet i have a 3lb copper mallet.

any suggestions?

 

[barracuda816]

Have you tried heating it and using the tool you made?

 

[brokenbiker]

Have you tried heating it and using the tool you made?

yes but i only have a small propane/butane mix torch and i cant get enough heat into it due to the mass of the steel and the current climate...

i have just been thinking about it and may cut it into smaller chunks just a bit oversize for what i need and then flatten them instead as will be easier to flatten smaller bits and i have space to whomp on them on the floor if needs be

 

[MattF]

Not knowing exactly what it is you're wanting to flatten, but would it not be simpler to just buy sheet/strip steel rather than trying to flatten curved?

 

[rikrobson]

Not knowing exactly what it is you're wanting to flatten, but would it not be simpler to just buy sheet/strip steel rather than trying to flatten curved?

the bit of gas bottle i have cut out of a 47kg bottle...

 

[MattF]

I'd read that bit, but can't understand why he just doesn't use a piece of steel plate if it's from the main body? Can't see it being any other part he's trying to flatten?

 

[cliff366]

Not sure it will work due the tight curve to begin with but have you tried driving you car up it like a ramp ??

 

[rikrobson]

I'd read that bit, but can't understand why he just doesn't use a piece of steel plate if it's from the main body? Can't see it being any other part he's trying to flatten?

There is a single curve on the bottle so any part will be curved. the top and bottom are dished and will have a double curve.

Maybe its the only steel he has access to

 

[brokenbiker]

Not knowing exactly what it is you're wanting to flatten, but would it not be simpler to just buy sheet/strip steel rather than trying to flatten curved?

why buy steel when i have some here already...especially when its for a project that will cost me absolutely nothing if i use this steel

can't understand why he just doesn't use a piece of steel plate if it's from the main body?

not sure if you have ever seen a 47kg gas bottle but there is not a single bit on it that is even near to flat... the top and bottom sections will be a nichtmare to flatten and will involve a lot of cutting to get it flat resulting in an unusable bit of steel...

Not sure it will work due the tight curve to begin with but have you tried driving you car up it like a ramp ??

hadnt thought of that but can see that bringing me into another realm of damage on the renault...plus the mrs has the car at the moment




i have decided that im going to go and get some more 1mm discs later and then cut it tomorrow to the shape i need (hoping to score and bend the joints rather than weld) and then flatten it with a mallet. i hasnt got to be prefect, just reasonably flat really, if i wanted accuracy i would buy a sheet of steel but for this i just need something to support the jigsaw and to give a bit of support to whatever i am cutting

 

[MattF]

Maybe its the only steel he has access to

If not, he likes making work for himself.

not sure if you have ever seen a 47kg gas bottle but there is not a single bit on it that is even near to flat... the top and bottom sections will be a nichtmare to flatten and will involve a lot of cutting to get it flat resulting in an unusable bit of steel...

Yup, I know what they're like. Hence why I'm wondering why you're even trying, just for the sake of saving a few bob.

Do you not have a section of tree stump or suchlike? Dishing the top slightly on something like that will give you a usable surface for metal bashing and flattening/straightening.

 

[brokenbiker]

If not, he likes making work for himself.

Do you not have a section of tree stump or suchlike BB? Dishing the top slightly on something like that will give you a usable surface for metal bashing and flattening/straightening.

no, only thing i have access to is a badly laid and badly broken patio floor (becasue my landlord cant see the problem), a frail and unstable council built red brick wall out the front and a 700x700x20mm thick OSB table top (temporary) screwed onto a cheap flimsy workmate copy

 

[MattH]

Can't you run some stringers down the opposite side with your MMA and let them warp/pull it flatter?

FYI, I'd spend the £5 on some flat plate.

 

[rikrobson]

Poor BB needs all the money he can get to poor into the french money pit

 

[brokenbiker]

Poor BB needs all the money he can get to poor into the french money pit

hey...its been 2 whole days since i last did anything to it...

 

[hunter27]

right, some of you have already seen my attempt at making a tool to flatten/straighten the bit of gas bottle i have cut out of a 47kg bottle...

i have given up on this method as although i now have nice strong welds that havent broken or even started to
i want the steel flat so i can make a stand to allow me to use my jigsaw as a sort of band saw, mount it underneath with blade sticking up through a plate, some legs etc so i can make some more accurate cuts when i need to cut out odd shapes etc...
any suggestions?

I thought a jigsaw mounted upside down fixed into a base with the blade pointing up would be handy not having a band saw for cutting tight shapes out of wood (I used a sheet of ply wood as the base) but I found although you could see what you were cutting easily enough the blade was to flexible (possibly due to the extra thickness of the ply base) I don't think I have used jigsaw in the base since I made it.
Pete

 

[rikrobson]

hey...its been 2 whole days since i last did anything to it...

I'd but a lottery ticket if I were you, before your luck runs out

 

[brokenbiker]

I thought a jigsaw mounted upside down fixed into a base with the blade pointing up would be handy not having a band saw for cutting tight shapes out of wood (I used a sheet of ply wood as the base) but I found although you could see what you were cutting easily enough the blade was to flexible (possibly due to the extra thickness of the ply base) I don't think I have used jigsaw in the base since I made it.
Pete

how would a wooden base make a blade more flexible?

 

[MattH]

The extra distance between the blades clamp point and the actual cut.

 

[brokenbiker]

The extra distance between the blades clamp point and the actual cut.

ah right...i wont have that problem...only 3mm thickness between the base of the jigsaw and the top of the table when mine is done and will be for cutting steel mostly so short blade on low rpm

 

[Screwdriver]

Stick it in a bonfire, drag out the red hot section, beat it flat with a sledge hammer.