How to straighten a brass handle.

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How to straighten a brass handle.

This topic has 14 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 1 October 2017 at 06:40 by Speedy Builder5.

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)

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30 September 2017 at 12:02 #25532
Adrian 2
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@adrian2
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30 September 2017 at 12:02 #319356
Adrian 2
Participant
@adrian2
I need to straighten this brass handle before it can be refixed. I do not want to break it by going about things in the wrong way.

Do I need to heat it ? I have a gas blowlamp at my disposal and the oven.

Your collective advice valued. Thanks Adrian.
30 September 2017 at 13:09 #319365
Michael Gilligan
Participant
@michaelgilligan61133
I would be hesitant about using too much heat … The zinc content is likely to boil-off before you do much good.

It presumably bent cold, so will probably bend back cold.

I would secure a couple of flats to it and use them as levers to manipulate it back to shape.

… Clamp a suitable wooden 'stake' in the vice, and work freehand.

MichaelG.
30 September 2017 at 13:18 #319367
mechman48
Participant
@mechman48
I would follow Michael's tip & persuade the bent end back into position gently, try a square piece of timber held in the vice as a stake with a smaller piece protecting the brass handle top & apply gentle leverage.

George.
30 September 2017 at 14:04 #319371
RobCox
Participant
@robcox
Why not heat it up to make it more pliable? When we braze things together with brass rod the brass melts without the zinc boiling off.

Rob
30 September 2017 at 14:11 #319374
roy entwistle
Participant
@royentwistle24699
I would think that the original was cast not bent. I would heat gently and try to bend carefully whilst heating

And the best of luck

Roy
30 September 2017 at 14:34 #319379
Michael Gilligan
Participant
@michaelgilligan61133
Posted by RobCox on 30/09/2017 14:04:15:

Why not heat it up to make it more pliable?

.

… Avoidance of unnecessary risk

The material from which this handle is made is unknown; but it is evidently quite ductile

MichaelG.

.

P.S. … This link may be of interest to some:

https://www.copper.org/resources/properties/microstructure/brasses.html

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 30/09/2017 14:59:14
30 September 2017 at 15:04 #319385
Michael Gilligan
Participant
@michaelgilligan61133
Posted by roy entwistle on 30/09/2017 14:11:07:

I would think that the original was cast not bent.

.

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 30/09/2017 13:09:45:

It presumably bent cold, so will probably bend back cold.

.

Roy,

Are we perhaps at cross purposes ?

… I was not suggesting that lt had been made by bending … merely that it bent.

MichaelG.
30 September 2017 at 16:27 #319399
Adrian 2
Participant
@adrian2
Job done. Thanks to all for the advice. Two schools of thought on this one , to heat or not to heat ?

I screwed it to a block of wood in the vice to see if it felt cooperative, and with very little persuasion was returned to its former self without the use of heat. Result.

Regards, Adrian.
30 September 2017 at 16:55 #319403
Trevor Drabble 1
Participant
@trevordrabble1
My method would be to attach two longish flats , as per MG , with one held in a vice , and the other having a weight at its end . I would then apply a strong flame to the inside of the curve for a short while , and then leave the combination of the contracting metal and weight to SLOWLY remove the be d . Repeated applications may be neccessary .
30 September 2017 at 19:37 #319425
roy entwistle
Participant
@royentwistle24699
MichealG My apologies. I was thinking that you meant that the handle was bent in manufacture

Roy
30 September 2017 at 20:10 #319432
SillyOldDuffer
Moderator
@sillyoldduffer
Not needed now but for info brass is softened by heating until it goes blue and then quenching in cold water. You can usefully make it hotter, but not red hot. Also, some brasses harden very quickly when they're worked and it may be necessary to re-soften them more than once.

No expert – I've only done it 6 or 7 times – but I got it to soften.
30 September 2017 at 20:32 #319435
Mike Poole
Participant
@mikepoole82104
Some flavours of brass are what is called hot short, at red heat it will crumble rather than bend, other flavours are cold short and snap if bent cold. I don't know how to tell which is which though. You may find out.

Mike

Edited By Mike Poole on 30/09/2017 20:32:47
30 September 2017 at 21:06 #319443
Michael Gilligan
Participant
@michaelgilligan61133
Posted by roy entwistle on 30/09/2017 19:37:06:

MichealG My apologies. I was thinking that you meant that the handle was bent in manufacture

Roy

.

No need for apolgy, Roy

… I just thought it worth clarifying.

MichaelG.
1 October 2017 at 06:40 #319466
Speedy Builder5
Participant
@speedybuilder5
For future reference, follow this link. By about the 5th response, there is an answer to Mike P's Hot and cold short etc.
**LINK**
BobH
Author

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