Alright folks, buckle up. Wanted to get stronger steel for this project I’m messing with – building a proper support bracket for my workshop hoist. You know, something that won’t bend or snap when I’m lifting heavy engine blocks. Figured I’d actually time myself doing some tests instead of just guessing. Yeah, timed it!
What I Did and Messed Up
Grabbed different types of steel bits I had laying around – some thick, some thin, some looked kinda old and rusty even. Set up my bench vise, clamped each piece in good and tight. Attached my trusty spring scale to a lever arm thing I rigged up. The plan? Hang weights on the lever, pull down with the scale until the steel bent or broke, and jot down how much pull it took. Seems simple enough, right? Recorded the time I started each test too.
Well, let me tell you, things didn’t go as smooth as I hoped. Learned the hard way about three really stupid things you absolutely shouldn’t do if you want actual useful info:
- Mistake #1: Not cleaning off the rust and gunk. Yeah, I was lazy. That nasty surface stuff? It totally messes with how the steel bends and breaks. My pull numbers were all over the place because some pieces were slippin’ or cracking early just ’cause they were crusty. Like trying to test a rusty car panel – pointless.
- Mistake #2: Ignoring where I grabbed it with the vise. Got impatient. Sometimes I clamped down hard right near the bendy spot. Turns out, the vise jaws crush the steel a bit, makes a weak point. Boom! Snaps way easier than if I’d clamped it farther back, giving it room to actually bend like it should. Felt like such a dope wasting pieces like that.
- Mistake #3: Only pulling once it starts bending. Big, BIG screw-up. I watched the scale number climb, thought “cool, that’s its strength,” and pulled harder until it snapped. Nope. Turns out steel starts stretching way before it actually lets go. That “stretching” point, where it changes shape permanently, is actually the important number for not bending stuff! The breaking point is usually way higher, but useless for most stuff. Totally misread the dial like a rookie.
What I Actually Should’ve Done
Total facepalm moment when I realized how bad I messed up. Had to redo basically everything. Polished every piece shiny clean like new pennies – elbow grease needed. Got super careful with the vise, always clamping way back from where it needed to flex. And I watched that dial like a hawk, stopping dead the instant the steel started permanently stretching, even just a little bit, even if it felt like nothing much was happening yet. Forgot about breaking it entirely for the “strength” part!
The timed part? Confirmed why patience matters. Rushing the setup and clamping took longer overall because so many tests were junk! Taking time to clean and place it right saved minutes later per piece.
Moral of the story? Treating the steel nice and knowing exactly what to look for on that scale dial makes all the difference. No more dusty chunks, no more careless clamping, and definitely stopping before the loud snap! The proper numbers finally make sense.
