if you were to bend something say as big as the flap of a pair of glasses i would personally recommend a little butane torch, most commonly reffered to as a "crack-torch" them teachers sure taught us right didnt they? anyways you heat the metal up EVENLY just slowly move your flame back and forth over the area you want to bend.
TIP. place the metal just at the tip of the flame to start with and slowly engulf the specimin with the flame untill you reach the optimal temperature.
then slowly and CAREFULLY bend it to the shape you want it while making sure to keep it within the heat range. this is where the torch comes in handy, most have a base to keep it standing upright (the politically correct term for this torch is a craft torch)
Either use a couple pair of pliers or thick gloves cause its gonna be hot!
After you have it bent to the desired shape you have made the metal weaker just by heating it up bummer huh? but ive got a solution for that...
i call it tempering
Tempering the metal is another way of giving that hard working, good looking HOT piece of metal its strength back
While still making sure the metal is hot enough to bend, dip that metal into the coldest bucket of water you can find. you therefore have bent metal efficiently while allowing it to keep its properties. well that was rather nice of you
In a nutshell what we have learned here today Ladies and Gentleman is this
Hot metal burn skin - Ice water Soothe burnt skin - Hot metal hates ice water - Ice water always wins
Metals regain their properties when rapidly cooled.
Melting point of steel is between 2300 degrees to 2700 degrees,
But you dont need to get that high, the 1000 to 1500 Degree range should be more than adequite
DO NOT heat anything that has a gold content of more than 30%. When gold goes through a smelting process they try to remove contaminants from the metal by introducing cyanide to it. even though they try to remove the cyanide from it there is still enough in there to kill you if you breathe it in Now im sure cyanide is a chemical known to the state of california that can cause cancer birth defects and a slight case of death
remember to always wear protective gear when doing ANYTHING that can cause physical harm. as for emotional harm as long as the metal doesent hold any sentamental value im sure youll be fine
And that folks is a short guide on tempering metal
I hope you have found this useful and entertaining at the same time
if you need anymore info either message or email me or do a quick search on metallurgy with your favorite search engine, now if youll excuse me im going to go rest my fingers
(Ive asked but most peeps there seem to think its sand though noone new for sure)