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.

A ring roller is a great tool for metal shops. A ring roller works by forcing steel material through three rollers also called dies. The three rollers are set in the machine in a triangular fashion. The two bottom rollers can be adjusted up into the top roller or drive roller to achieve various degrees of arches. The metal is wheeled through a ring roller until the desired radius is formed.
The drive roller pushes and pulls steel through simultaneously so that the steel has no where to go and thus forms a metal arch. If the ring roller operator moves the two bottom rollers or dies up, it changes the size of the ring. The rollers or dies are moved using a small hydraulic jack and lock screw on the ring roller. The operator unhooks the lock screw and pumps up the hydraulic jack and then tightens the lock screw once the desired span is achieved.
Standard dies that come with a ring roller usually handle flat strap metal. The roller Tom uses is the Shop Outfitters #238 Ring Roller. This is the discontinued Shop Outfitters Ring Roller and has been replaced by their newer and improved model, the 338 Pedestal Ring Roller. Shop Outfitters newest ring roller is able to accept wider steel, 3″ X 3/8″ steel rather then 2″ X 3/8″ of the previous model. The 338 Pedestal Ring Roller also has an aluminum handle and a heavier hydraulic jack. The 338 Pedestal Ring Roller also is able to roll square tubing. The square tubing dies are purchased separately. Special recesses in the dies allow for either tubing, round stock or square tubing.
A Ring Roller is an essential tool for many metal shops. Tom has used his ring roller to build items such as custom spinning pot holders, decorative metal tables and large wood racks.

Our friends from Summit Structures asked Tom to fabricate this custom metal handrail on location at a new house they were building.  The handrail was built on a radius staircase so it took a little more work than usual to acquire the correct bends. 

The first thing Tom did was to set the upright posts in line with the radius wall.  Next, he bent the square tubing in a radius.  Tom used a Shop Outfitters 238 Ring Roller after a slight modification in the ring roller.  He removed a bushing out to allow the steel tubing to fit through.  He also made some different idler rollers for the ring roller as well.  He was then able to roll 1.5 inch by 1.5 inch square tubing through the ring roller.  He had to make several passes through the ring roller with his square tubing in order to get the desired radius on the steel.  He was only able to bend a little at a time.  An application like this is slightly hard on the ring roller, so anyone attempting this sort of use should be sure he has the machine set properly. 

When building a handrail along a curved stairway one trick is worth noting.  When welding in the top and bottom rails to the upright posts a twist needs to be formed into the rails.  When tubing goes up in a radius it should twist to gain the desired effect when tying the handrail into the upright posts.  Tom accomplished the twist by taking each handrail and placing them into a vice.  Using a 48 inch pipe wrench he put a 6 degree twist into the upper and lower rails before attaching them to the posts. 

Next, Tom welded the pickets between each post.  He purchased the pre-twisted metal pickets at Orleans Ornamental Iron.  Pickets were necessary for the metal handrail because building code usually requires that a guardrail be in place if the  stairway has more than a 30 inch drop.  The metal pickets were first cut to the proper angle and then welded by spacing them so that nothing smaller than a 4 inch sphere can fit between them.

Tom fashioned metal ends to finish off the metal handrail.  The decorative ends were designed to tie in the vertical uprights to the radius tubes that go up the staircase.  Tom used a Shop Outfitters 20/20 compact bender using 1.5 by .25 inch flat steel stock.

The last touch was to prep the handrail for paint.  Tom rubbed the handrail down with acetone to remove a lot of the oils in the tubing.  He then scrubbed the handrail down with a soap and water solution with scotch-bright pads. Finally, he painted the project black.

Most of the metal handrail had to be fashioned onsite.