We chopped our wagon, and are going to keep the vent windows. So they also need to be lowered. Here's a photo of the frame in question. Its a VERY heavy gage stainless. The tight corner needs to be made even tighter. I'm sure I can heat it and bend it a bit, but will that discolor the stainless? Will it polish back if It does discolor? Am I better off to do relief cuts and weld? It only has to move about 4 degrees. I know stainless is super hard, and I have often straightened and polished out trim, so I'm not a complete rookie, but this one has me bothered.
It'd be a hunt, but possible for sure. I'd rather get good advice, try it, and then if I screw it up go looking for another frame. If it works I've saved a lot of searching.
In my experience heated Stainless can always have the color polished out of it by abrasive methods or passivation. This little machine works well to get rid of bluing without abrasives: http://www.surfox.com If you have any friends that do a lot of stainless work, they might have one you could borrow. My second choice for non-abrasive color removal would be pickling paste. http://www.midwaymetals.com.au/avesta/finishing-chemicals/pickling-paste/ In terms of the bend you are trying to make...I have heard, (but have not tried) that if you fill the channel with lead, you can bend it cold. If that doesn't work, I think you will probably have to make a few relief cuts. Channel like that won't usually bend in on itself without the flanges popping out. You could try the heat and bend without relief cuts and always make them after the fact if/when the flanges pop. Also, when chopping or welding the vent use pieces of the vent scraps as filler rod. If you use anything else as filler, it'll usually be fairly obvious when the piece is polished out. I've welded stainless trim this way with good results... Good luck.
Just rebuff it.... Stainless will discolor from heat, but a pass through a buffer will restore the finish with no damage. Best bet would be to build a jig in the needed shape that fits into the glass channel, clamp one side to the jig, heat, then bend/reshape the channel to the jig. Here's a set of bike turn signal mounts that were scratch-built from stainless, stick welded with stainless rod, filed/sanded to shape, then polished...
Stick welded? Say, with a buzz box? Pre heat or any other techniques? What rod and amp did you use. Nice work by the way. Thanks
Hey Chaz, I'd start by making a templet from Masonite or heavy cardboard/posterboard the same thickness as the glass. Do your takeoff from your chopped window frame, and transfer this shape to steel plate, again the exact thickness as the glass. Once you cut out the plate, and have cleaned it up, you can use it as an anvil to form & shape the stainless around. Also, if you have to heat up the stainless to get it to move( you will), the plate won't care. Try and avoid hitting the stainless as much as possible, with steel faced hammers, as this will cause thinning and excess material that will have to be shrunk. Only go with releif cuts as a last resort as they will require more welding. As pointed out above, try and use parent material from the same part as it will match, once welded and polished. " Humpty Dumpty was pushed "
You can buff the coloring back out. If you couldnt, then you would never see welded polished stainless.
Chuck,do what you gotta do,I have a couple of extra stainless vent window frames if it doesn't work out. They will need new pivots but it appears yours does too. HRP
A buzz box is typically an AC current machine UNLESS you have a rectifier on it to convert it to DC current. Stainless steel stick welding is for the most part DCEP (direct current electrode positive), amperage depending on stick size and material thickness would be VERY low as to not cause carbide precipation and ruin it. Can't really say the rod to use without knowing what the grade of stainless is, 304, 308, 316 etc. There are rods that can be used for different grades but not any SS rod will weld SS if that makes sense, I'd be more inclined to weld it with tig if you have access to one. You'll have all the control in the world over the amperage and heat inputs with a tig machine. Either way, be sure to clean the oxides off first and then weld. The heat marks will buff out no problem. I have a feeling you would need some small pie cuts to help bend and not kink the corners. If you think about that number for a minute you'll quickly realize that it's BS. A 10" piece of stainless steel would not end up 9" after welding, of course this is just an example based on the number posted for shrinkage.
I just did this with my shoebox, it's no big deal I actually used a propane torch. There is no need to weld. It will polish out just fine. Rich
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