We received a question via our youtube channel from RacerRob528.
Here is the comment:
Please let me know if your bender could bend 1″ x 3/8″ aluminum flat bar in
a U shape with a 6″ inside radius. If so, I might get one of these down the road. Oh, yeah,
I know there are all types of aluminum. I don’t have the name of the type I use in front of me.
It’s considered aircraft aluminum, and it’s hard. I currently have to bend it by heating it up and
pulling it around a 6″ diameter pole. It’s almost impossible but I do it.
We decided to take a short video to answer Racers question. Tom used a 1″ X 1/2″ flat strap as an example. The main issue was not having the correct die to use to bend the metal strap. The largest die that the 2020 compact bender comes with is a 3″. Rob asked about bending a 6″ radius. Tom ended up using a die made for round tubing. Please note that this die is not recommended by Shop Outfitters for this purpose, but Tom thought he would give it a try. A die can be easily made using a 6″ stock with a hole drilled into the middle. Hope this helps!

The Library Sports Grille & Brewery in Laramie Wyoming is a fun a popular place to eat and have a few brews. It is locally owned and operated and is one of Tom’s favorite places to go. The owners have recently opened up a second restaurant in Winter Park Colorado. The pizza oven there was in need of a new metal box to hold the wood burning fire.
Tom started by getting the dimensions from the previous sheet metal box. Tom decided to build the new metal box out of eleven gauge hot rolled steel. The box also needed to have a handle on the end so that it could be easily maneuvered in the pizza oven. The sides also needed a bit of a taper to them. In order to reduce some of the welding labor, Tom had a sheet metal company shear the tapered sides to the desired angles. The sheet metal company also used a large press break to bend up one large piece of metal to form the back, bottom and front of the box. This insured a nice smooth finish to the metal box.
Once Tom collected all of the pieces of the metal box, he simply had to weld the edges together. He then formed the front handle using a compact bender from Shop Outfitters. The handle is made out of half inch hot rolled steel. Tom added a couple of gussets to firm up the handle.

Metal Handle

In this video, Tom explains how to make a simple bend using a 20/20 Compact Mental Bender from Shop Outfitters. It is very important to anchor your tubing bender to the concrete. Most metal benders come with a base plate that will attach to your shop or garage floor with a few simple steps.
Most applications require using the stop block. The stop block holds metal strap or flat strap in place while bending. The spacer disk holds up the stop block and prevents it from locking the tubing bender handle.
Most metal benders come with a standard set of dies. The dies range in sizes from 1″ through 3″ with varying sizes between. Round dies fit into the tubing bender and are held in place by hitch pins. The desired radius die is placed in the center of the metal bender at the pivot point. The steel strap is set against the stop block when placed into the bender. It is a good idea to use an additional die in the handle of the metal bender to give the steel strap something to roll against while it is being bent.
Remember to bend it a little past the point desired to allow for a spring back in the metal material.

Feel free to post questions, comments or suggestions on compact metal benders!

Removing metal strap from the 20/20 Compact Bender, after it has been bent with the right angle attachment, takes a couple of easy steps. It is not necessary to remove the front hitch pins and disrupt your set up, especially if you have more than one metal strap to bend. In this video Tom explains how to quickly and easily transfer metal strap from start to finish while using your compact bender.
Tom used a right angle attachment to bend a 3/16″ X 1″ hot rolled strap in a “U” shape form. The back hinge pin can be removed and the right angle attachment swiveled perpendicular to the tubing bender for easy removal of the metal strap.
The right angle attachment comes in handy when making letters for signs. Flat Strap is readily used on ornamental signs for personal and business use. A good size to start with when making letters is a standard 6″. These letters can be formed out of 3/16″ X 2″ hot rolled steel strap.
Tom built this “U” shape metal piece by first deciding how much space he wanted between the legs of the “U”. He then marked lines approximately 1/8″ further apart than the desired measurement using a silver metallic sharpie. Lining up half of the silver mark along the right angle attachment insures correct dimensions of your bend.
It is best to use cheaper stock like 3/16″ by 1/2″ first to practice on your tube bender prior to bending more expensive steel stock for your final project. It is important to remember to use the same thickness of stock when setting up your metal bender for bending your steel strap.

It is that time of year again when our attention turns to the outdoors and the curb appeal of our homes. One easy way to give your front porch a quick face lift is to add or replace an outdoor stair rail.
A few things to keep in mind, along with design, have to do with observing city and county codes.
Residential properties generally have to have at least one handrail along a flight of stairs. The height of the handrail should be mounted somewhere between 34″ and 38″ above all of the stair nosing.
The grip-able area of the handrail should measure between 1 1/4″ and 2 1/4″.
If the handrail is to be hung along an existing wall, like the example in the photos, a 1 1/2″ clearance between any projection in the wall and the handrail should be observed. Sometimes this gets a bit tricky if the wall has an uneven surface like stone.

Tom built this handrail to fit a new home. The handrail needed to bolt to a stone faced wall at the top and also bolt to a stone faced concrete planter at the bottom of the stairs. Tom used a lag screw that fit into the metal railing bracket and sunk it through the stone and wall behind. The bottom bracket was fastened using a concrete anchor through the stone into the concrete planter underneath. Tom used 1 1/2″ .109 wall E.W. round tubing bent using a Shop Outfitters Universal Fabricator.

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The Today Show has been covering the Winter Olympics from Vancouver Canada for the past couple of weeks. They have hosted great athletes, chefs and other guests at the Grouse Mountain location NBC remodeled for the games. I, for one, couldn’t help but notice the dramatic fireplace screen that has flanked Meridith, Matt, Ann and Al.
I have been searching for a photo to post along with this article, but can not seem to find on on the internet. I did, however, find this three minute discussion between Ann Curry and Kristi Yamaguchi. Interestingly enough, Kristi seems to want to cut to some “B roll” as they chit chat about various figure skaters. It seems someone in production checked out early. The entire three minutes is spent watching the two women talk. Good for my purpose. Get a great look at the custom metal fireplace screen that someone must have handcrafted for the television set.
The frame of the fireplace screed looks like it is made out of 3/4″ square tube. The curves in the metal frame could have been shaped on a metal bender and the sharp corners were possibly mitred together. Small pieces of 1/4″ cold rolled round stock have been welded onto the frame to hold various cut metal designs. The metal designs were most likely cut by hand out of pickled and oiled flat stock by a plasma cutter. There are also several sizes of flat stock that have been cut and ground off to form the icicle figures in the metal fireplace screen.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see this type of fireplace design pop up in custom homes around the world.

The cage needed an easy to open latch and handle.
The handles were formed out of two pieces of twelve inch, 5/8 round bar stock. The round stock was bent ninety degrees on either end. The two metal handles were directly welded onto the square tube. Mounting plates can also be fabricated to the metal handles by drilling 5/8″ holes into a piece of flat bar stock. Insert the bent metal handle part way into the hole and weld on the back. Additional holes can be drilled into the steel plate to provide anchor points for mounting.

There was plenty of great metal handrail to look at on a recent trip to New Mexico. Tom and I spent most of the day wandering around the Taos area and snapping pictures of interesting custom metal handrail and guard rail. Taos is a mecca of metal artwork and the detail is not lost on a few of the commercial properties located in the town.
We found this example most interesting as it was laced with common objects. The handrail was at The World Cafe and included lots of whimsical items welded into the scrolled metal guardrails. A couple of examples are below. A great online source for metal stair material is Stairwarehouse.com. They have numerous examples of all kinds of handrails, guardrails and even stair treads. You can even view a great do it yourself project online. Another great source for metal stair rail work is Orleans Ornamental Iron & Casting Distributors, Inc. out of New Orleans Louisiana. Tom has ordered several items from Orleans and has had a good experience each time. Orleans Ornamental carries iron castings, aluminum castings, steel forgings as well as castings for furniture and accessories.

Another fabulous looking handrail we saw was located in the Taos Inn. This small stairway in the lobby of the hotel was speckled with chili peppers.
Metal handrail has developed into an artwork as there are more options for design and weld looks. Metal handrail also is a good choice to stand up in all kinds of elements. It can draw attention to a business and add to the overall atmosphere. Something to keep in mind is requirements for spacing metal pickets. Pickets are to be spaced so that a four inch spherical ball may not pass through at any point.
Check with building officials in your area to find out about other codes and requirements.

Metal Table Frame

After welding in two cross pieces onto the metal table frame, to help support the table, it was time to build the table top. Tom used 12 gauge hot rolled sheet metal for the main table top. A scrap piece of tread bright aluminum was used as a template to radius each corner. Even arches were created by using the template and marking the steel using a silver colored sharpie. Tom then trimmed the steel using a plasma cutter along the sharpie lines. An angle grinder was used to feather in the corners with the straight edges.
In order to create round edges for the metal table, Tom rolled a metal ring out of flat strap using a Shop Outfitters ring roller. Then he cut the ring in quarters and matched up each piece. The straight flat 3/16″ X 1/2″ hot rolled strap edges were measured to fit and then cut using an Edwards Iron Worker. The corner and straight strap metal was then tack welded onto the sheet metal. The edges were then ground down to blend to form a smooth finish.
Tom finished the metal table by adding rounded support straps that were fabricated using a Shop Outfitters ring roller. Square tube was welded on to help hold an umbrella for the metal table.
A vinegar bath was applied to strip off the mill scale from the metal table. Looking back, it would have been better to start with a pickled and oiled stock.
A quick paint job using water based industrial paint for the base and min-wax poly-shade stain with polyurethane for the top, and the large metal table was complete. After a 24 hour drying period we were ready to move the table into the backyard.
Now, there was only one thing left to do. We invited a few friends over to help break in our new metal table.

Outdoor Commercial Stairway

Metal Hand Rails are widely used in both residential construction and commercial construction.
The International Building Code has hand rail code requirements listed under the means of egress section. Both stair hand rails and ramp hand rails are required in most situations. Talk to the building official in your area to clarify whether your stairway or ramp should have a hand rail.
Metal hand rails are used indoors and outdoors. Metal hand rails tend to be more durable, last longer, and leave a finished look on stairway projects. Metal hand rails can be fabricated in most machine shops that also take on welding work.
Two important things to consider when contracting with a machinist/welder to fabricate a metal hand rail for your residence or business are the height requirements and extension requirements of your new hand rail.
Section 1009.11.1 states that: “Handrail height, measured above stair tread nosings, or finished surface of ramp slope, shall be uniform, not less than 34 inches (864 mm) and not more than 38 inches (965 mm).”
This means that starting from the stair or ramp surface, the hand rail should slope somewhere between 34 and 38 inches above the tread line.

Where the metal hand rails are free standing and do not continue on they must extend at least twelve inches at either end. Section 1009.11.5 states that “Handrails shall return to a wall, guard or the walking surface or shall be continuous to the handrail of an adjacent stair flight. Where handrails are not continuous between flights, the handrails shall extend horizontally at least 12 inches (305 mm) beyond the top riser and continue to slope for the depth of one tread beyond the bottom riser.