Shmella Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Ive seen slide rackers bent up to clear fingers/thumbs but ive only seen it with aluminum ones. Can a Brazos Zig racker be bent up without really messing it up in the process? I have a zig racker on my open gun and I occasionally clip my thumb nail. Could I just heat this thing up with a torch and put it in a vice and bend it a little? I dont want to Heat stain this thing I dont really know what to expect if I hit it with a torch. I know from past experience that trying to cut stainless with a torch doesnt really work like regular steel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanttolearn Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 I don't know anything about metal working...but i peruse a cool website forum that might help if you don't get the answer here: Iforgeiron.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmella Posted April 21, 2017 Author Share Posted April 21, 2017 Thanks, Im sure someone here has tried exactly what im asking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Yeah you can bend stainless rackers. Its just harder. Chuck it in a vise, heat and bend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmella Posted April 21, 2017 Author Share Posted April 21, 2017 25 minutes ago, BeerBaron said: Yeah you can bend stainless rackers. Its just harder. Chuck it in a vise, heat and bend. Thank you, any forever lasting staining from heating it up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoganbillJ Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 I have done it to a customers zig racker. Easily done. If you do over heat it and get a small stain it can be polished back out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewbeck Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Make sure you clamp the dovetail in the vise so you don't put any bend or radius in the flat of the dovetail or you'll have to spend a lot of time refitting or flattening that back out. Though if the the racker is loose at all this would tighten it up again. it will go black or yellow, blue, etc depending on how much carbon is in the heat your using and how quickly you can get that heat into the part. It can all be sanded, blasted, or polished out without issue. At some point that metal was red hot in its creation and formed, you'd just need to redo it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmella Posted April 21, 2017 Author Share Posted April 21, 2017 1 hour ago, drewbeck said: Make sure you clamp the dovetail in the vise so you don't put any bend or radius in the flat of the dovetail or you'll have to spend a lot of time refitting or flattening that back out. Though if the the racker is loose at all this would tighten it up again. it will go black or yellow, blue, etc depending on how much carbon is in the heat your using and how quickly you can get that heat into the part. It can all be sanded, blasted, or polished out without issue. At some point that metal was red hot in its creation and formed, you'd just need to redo it ok thanks. I planned on clamping down the dovetail part for the reason described. Im gonna give it a go after work. I have an acetylene torch at my work place along with a vice, I'll bring a plastic or brass hammer and give it a few taps. Wish me luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewbeck Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 the plastic (probably melt) and brass hammer will need to be a heavier one or you'll have to beat it pretty good and it won't be very controlled movement. I use a ball pein (which will dent it) to flattend or make tight bends but found that a descent size crescent wrench works well for this type of bending. Tighten it so its snug against whatever portion you're bending and you'll be able to get torque on it without marring anything. You can also twist the racker as needed just use it like a wrench. Any other visegrip type pliers would work but may mar it pretty good. You won't need acetylene if you just have a plumbers torch, propane, map gas, etc it will be fine. It'll be easy to overheat it with oxy/acetlyene so don't go overboard. Also, I wouldn't quench it in water to cool it, let it cool slowly so you accidentally harden it too much and make it too brittle. Bottom line, is that if it's hot and you can get a decent grip on it, it won't take much effort to bend it how you want it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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