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Bending Stock Progression
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While the only way to be certain how different pieces of stock will compare is to bend them, some general guidelines can be established for estimating difficulty of a piece of short bending stock. Consider the following:
Progressively harder stock.
- Bar Length: All else being equal, a shorter bar is a harder bar. As the length of the bar goes down, the distance with which to gain leverage on the bend is reduced. The exception to this is that due to form problems with longer stock, some individuals find a 6” bar easier to bend than a 7” bar.
- Bar Diameter: The thicker a bar is, the harder it is. Even a 1/16” increase in bar diameter results in a dramatic increase in bar strength. A 3/8” diameter bar will require four times as much force to bend as a 3/16” diameter bar of the same material and length.
- Bar Shape: The more sides a bar has for a given diameter, the easier it will be to bend. Square stock is harder then round stock. Steel suppliers offer hexagonal stock, which will be between square and round stock.
- Bar Material: Short bending stock can be found in a variety of metals. Most typical is hot rolled or cold rolled steel. Other materials used are stainless steel, brass, and aluminum. Cold rolled steel tends to be shinier than hot rolled steel, and will also be harder to bend. Stainless steel will be harder than either of those. Aluminum and brass will be softer. The harder a material is, the sharper the bend will be. Very soft metals like Aluminum will form a wide U shape when bent. Hard metals like stainless steel will form a V shape when bent.
