question about bending wiper inserts

[geardog32]

So I have made several attempts a making tension wrenches like in kaotik's tutorial with the exception of using wiper inserts. The problem is that I find after heating the inserts to a temperature where it can be bent it becomes very weak. Does anyone know of a way to bend them better or temper them? I didn't think stainless could be tempered very easily.

[Josh K]

Your best bet is to soften the metal and then reharden it to a spring temper.

[Legion303]

Maybe it depends on the exact blade material, but I don't heat mine at all.

-steve

[geardog32]

the wiper inserts i get seem to be very strong. Just to clarify I am bending them keeping them flat like say a flat five tension wrench. I cannot bend them this way without heating them but afterward they seem weak and bend easily when applying tension. iv tried to research tempering stainless steel and the only thing i have found involves temperatures in the range of 1200 Celsius (my pencil torch will not come close) iv tried to temper them as i have with regular steel but it seems to not help.

[Josh K]

the wiper inserts i get seem to be very strong. Just to clarify I am bending them keeping them flat like say a flat five tension wrench. I cannot bend them this way without heating them but afterward they seem weak and bend easily when applying tension. iv tried to research tempering stainless steel and the only thing i have found involves temperatures in the range of 1200 Celsius (my pencil torch will not come close) iv tried to temper them as i have with regular steel but it seems to not help.

Stainless is tricky, as is how you are attempting to bend it.

I don't think those torsion wrenches are bent, I think they are laser cut out of stock material.

It would really depend on what that's made out of for giving it a proper heat treat. Best I can tell you is to heat it up cherry red and then quench. That's the absolute basic though.

[nostromo]

geardog32, what angle(s) are you planning on being the wiper blade to? If you give enough space (1/8" - 1/4") it usually bends as far as you want. Except for the really hard stuff.

My son works at a Honda dealership and brings a lot of wiper blades home and very few of them are that rigid. Most of them can even be bent into a spiral 'tube'!