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Bending 316 stainless rod by heating

2003

The machine shop that is making six 5/8 inch U-bolts for the attachment of the main shrouds on my boat asked if it would be OK to heat the 5/8 316 stainless rod before bending. After some investigation on the web it looks like this would not be a good idea since grade 316 does not get harder when heated.

What will this heating (with a torch) do to the strength of the 5/8 rod? (other than the fact that it will be very difficult to polish the stuff after heating!) The U-bolts will have a 1.6 in radius bend (distance between the legs of U-bolt will be 3.2 in (center-to-center)).

Thanks,

Ron Nowlan
DMS - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

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2004

The 5/8 inch rods were torch heated (minimal heat) and bent into U-shape gradually with no discoloration of the 316 stainless. After being in service as the end-point attachment for main mast shrouds for almost one year - the U-bolts have not shown any signs of in-service distortion.

Ron Nowlan
Yacht Construction - Ottawa, ON, Canada