Bending a grabrail

[andrewhopkins]

No idea how but I came down to my boat to find one of the stainless steel grab rails on the roof of my Bavaria is bent slightly.

I tried using a cramp and some wood to bend it back but it didnt seem to work.

Any suggestions ?

Andrew

 

[Avocet]

Stainless "work-hardens" like mad. When it gets bent, it becomes much stronger than the metal surrounding the bend so if you try to bend it back, it tends to form another set of bends near the first set rather than straighten the eisting ones out.

Depending on how bad the bend is, you might have more luck with one of those ratchet strap things they use for securing loads on trucks. They're good for about 5 tonnes. If the position of the bend lends itself to doing this, you might be able to take the other end of the strap to something solid and heave on the stainless bit but you'll have to be really careful what you take it to. At worst, it will cause localised cracking in the gelcoat of the boat where the point load is applied.

The best way is to take the whole thing off and give it to a skilled stainless fabricator but I don't know if this is an option.