Bail bending

E

EricC

Member
Some of y'all may have noticed, when I posted my spider DO the other week, the bale was bent out of shape.

I'm looking to bend it back best I can. The key issue is where the bale attaches to the DO, it's out of alignment and that limits its range of motion.

But these bales are pretty hard to bend - if I try to do it with pliers it's going to get a lot of tool mark damage, and otherwise be a pretty difficult job.

I was looking at a mini pipe bender but they're not chump-change so before I go down that path, I thought I'd ask the forum if y'all have any advice on the best way to do this.

Here's another pic of what I'm dealing with:


Thanks!
 
I use a metal pipe upright pole on the fence between my house and the neighbor. About a 2-1/2" diameter pipe. Hook the bail over it with the bottom of the pot toward you. Grasping at the ends of the bail, position it against the pole where you want to pull it out into a semi-circle again, and give a couple of short tugs, reposition as necessary and repeat. In your case, about 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock. Move it a little left and right of those points to achieve as smooth a curve as possible. Don't try to pull it out all at once in one spot. Make sense?
 
Yes that makes sense, good idea.

We do have metal tube posts in our fence so I can give that a shot.

Thanks.
 
I would put my 2” pipe breaker bar in the vise and beat on it with a wood mallet at 9:30, noon and 3:00 and continue to hit any high spots. Heat will help but you probably don’t want to scorch it, so at least run hot water over it first.

Hilditch
 
OK, I tried the fence post technique. It made a difference but I got to the point where I couldn't curve one side without straightening out the other, even doing single alternating tugs.

So I broke out a mallet and started carefully wacking away. That finished the job. It's not perfect but it's much better, certainly solved the range of motion issue.

This is a late-model BSR with pretty much zero collectible value and I'm certainly not going for making it a show piece. I just need something functional for camping trips and it now fits the bill. Or at least it will when I reseason it...

Thanks for the responses. Here's how it is now...
 
You can isolate shaping areas by moving one or both handholds away from the ends of the bail.
 
When you want to use pliers, line the teeth with a piece of bent in half thick leather or a few layers of shop rag and the teeth won't hurt the metal. Like on the right bail loop to straighten it a bit.

Hilditch
 
A related question - I know these bales are steel, not iron, but are they stainless? Do they need to be seasoned or have some other preventative care to prevent rust?

And I don't just mean for modern pieces but vintage pieces, too.
 
Stainless, no. You can keep them from rusting by applying one coat of the seasoning you use for the pan, or something else, like mineral oil.
 
All steel is not created equal. A magnet will stick to some stainless steel like my stove hood and warming shelf racks. The amount of chromium, nickel or other minerals will affect the steels’ propensity to rust or stain.

With normal use a bail has no reason to rust and by fault will develop it’s own seasoning. A wipe of mineral oil will suffice for storage. The even seasoning of a bail could be a significant challenge.

If rust formed on a bail, a few seconds with a Brillo pad would solve it.

Hilditch
 
Re: Bale bending

Thanks for the answers. Let me rephrase the question - when doing a reseasoning bake in the oven, do you take the bale off?

I'm reseasoning both the DO in the OP and the one in another thread and I've been taking the bale off. Which led to the question of if the bale needed its own preventative care or treatment.

---------- Post added at 09:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:58 PM ----------

On a vaguely related note, I titled this thread using "bail" but then I've made several posts using "bale"...

I've now done enough googling to verify that "bail" is correct, though you can find plenty of examples of bale being used incorrectly.

I'm sure y'all already knew that, but now I do, too...
 
No. If it gets some seasoning on it that is OK. If you don'e like it - Brillo. It isn't good for the bail to be opened and shut.

Hilditch
 
Good question, Eric. I would assume the steel in the nail is made to withstand the same temperatures the pot would be subjected to under normal circumstances.

And good point about all steel not being equal. It seems the New Zealanders are finding that out ... http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/307694/steel-supplier-has-issued-fake-quality-certs

Fake certificates from China? As my old boss used to say, "The Chinese invented paper and they know how to use it."
 
Ah, I was thinking it might interfere with the seasoning process where the bail contacted the DO. I'll put them back on before their next respective rounds and leave them on.
 
As noted in the restoration article on the main website, it is self cleaning oven cycle temps which are a danger to steel bails and coil handles, not oven seasoning temperatures. Miniscule points of contact between bail and pot will not impact seasoning. Also, please let's not go off on tangents about things like China and substandard steel. Thanks.
 
Bail or bale? Combining quotes from Andrew Jackson and Mark Twain I have been defending myself for many years with; It’s a small mind that can only think of one way to spell a word.

Hilditch
 
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