So has anyone cracked steel??

[1crazyredneck]

So .. I have a 10" H-Brake for the 20ton press.. I've used it for 1/4 x 8" before with no problems.. I had to bend some 3/8 x 4" up this past weekend so I put it in there.. put like a ton on there to hold it.. Grabbed the torch.. Just about got it cherry and Bam.. The steel broke .. It actually broke in the back portion and not where the v was in the brake.. Thank god I didn't have more pressure on it because with what little I had the thing went for a ride.. I ended up just bending it with the torch by hand and putting the piece in the vise like I normally do.. Kinda weird though.. I'll have to post pics up when i get back down there..

[sglide]

So .. I have a 10" H-Brake for the 20ton press.. I've used it for 1/4 x 8" before with no problems.. I had to bend some 3/8 x 4" up this past weekend so I put it in there.. put like a ton on there to hold it.. Grabbed the torch.. Just about got it cherry and Bam.. The steel broke .. It actually broke in the back portion and not where the v was in the brake.. Thank god I didn't have more pressure on it because with what little I had the thing went for a ride.. I ended up just bending it with the torch by hand and putting the piece in the vise like I normally do.. Kinda weird though.. I'll have to post pics up when i get back down there..that will hapen when you creat a "heat affected zone"
the zone on the edge for where your heating becomes flame hardend and brittle

[Haggar]

Even without heating, it'll often do that, especially hot rolled, in my experience.

I had the same thing happen with 1/4 HREW when I was bending some flat stock to plate my steering box mount. I ended up ut cutting everything and welding the seams.

[sglide]

Even without heating, it'll often do that, especially hot rolled, in my experience.

I had the same thing happen with 1/4 HREW when I was bending some flat stock to plate my steering box mount. I ended up ut cutting everything and welding the seams.this is why im not allowed to use hot rolled in any code procedure where vibration may be a factor.
hot rolled plate (depending on manufacturer)
is usually hydrogen in brittled, this happens when the hot roll procedure is happening in an open are environment.
it will draw H out of the atmo.
basically water quenching to a degree

[1crazyredneck]

So question.. Heating the steel to cherry red and bending with slight pressure then letting it air cool down is probably the least brittle way of bending it with a torch correct?? Quenching it I know is bad.. I'm actually way overkill using 3/8" for what I'm doing so I'm hoping it works..

[sglide]

So question.. Heating the steel to cherry red and bending with slight pressure then letting it air cool down is probably the least brittle way of bending it with a torch correct?? Quenching it I know is bad.. I'm actually way overkill using 3/8" for what I'm doing so I'm hoping it works..
the best way given what you have to work with would be to slow the cool down using an insulation (tinfoil or something like that)
but if its way over kill to use 3/8s and in dosnt crack while bending air cool should be fine