bending steel or aluminum for light mount

[cpschult]

Has anyone cold forged steel or aluminum to make a diy light bracket?

I've got access to some stainless steel (3" and 6" wide) that I was thinking about making a diy light bracket to mount an AI hydra and T5s off of. I could always buy a fixture but this material is free I would grind edges and paint before use to clean it up. Just curious if anyone had tried/completed this before and if you had any lessons or recommendations.

This would be for an IM 25 lagoon.

Thanks!

 

[mfinn]

My son-in-law bent this 2" x 3/8" aluminum flat bar using a bender he made. I would think a heavy vise and torch would do the same for aluminum, but 3" or even 6" SS seems pretty excessive.

 

[Mandelstam]

I've bent flat bar steel with just a vise and a rubber mallet. It wasn't ss steel though. I would go with aluminum every day of the week before ss steel for this purpose but I understand that you want to make use of it. It can absolutely be done it just takes a bit more work.

Btw, do you know what quality it is? Some stainless steels aren't very stainless in reality.

 

[120reefkeeper]

I have made brackets out of SS before just not for that light. A bench vise , hammer , torch , grinder and buffer. Maybe a drill, tap set are needed depending on design. Slowly heat the SS .

SS transfers heat really well so be careful not to overheat it.

 

[cpschult]

My son-in-law bent this 2" x 3/8" aluminum flat bar using a bender he made. I would think a heavy vise and torch would do the same for aluminum, but 3" or even 6" SS seems pretty excessive.

That is beautiful! Any idea how he made the bracket to hold the light? It's much more elegant than anything I was planning.

I've bent flat bar steel with just a vise and a rubber mallet. It wasn't ss steel though. I would go with aluminum every day of the week before ss steel for this purpose but I understand that you want to make use of it. It can absolutely be done it just takes a bit more work.

Btw, do you know what quality it is? Some stainless steels aren't very stainless in reality.

I don't know the quality. If I had to guess fairly good. It is product left over from some custom manufacturing that was done in our food plant. I don't think a rubber mallet is going to work for cold forging this. Will likely need something a bit heavier. I think I will try heating it and see how malleable that makes it.

I have made brackets out of SS before just not for that light. A bench vise , hammer , torch , grinder and buffer. Maybe a drill, tap set are needed depending on design. Slowly heat the SS .

SS transfers heat really well so be careful not to overheat it.

Thank you! Any recommendation for brackets like the first poster? That really looks clean. I also wanted to add a cross piece that I can tie retrofit t5s too. I should have everything on hand to clean it up. Also have a drill and tap set in the shop here.

 

[mfinn]

That is beautiful! Any idea how he made the bracket to hold the light? It's much more elegant than anything I was planning.
.

The actual bracket itself is a copy of the Ecotech RMS bracket.
I got a piece of 1/4" plate aluminum and used the RMS slide mount bracket as a pattern.
I went around to several machine shops in my area to see if they would cut out the basic shape, but the cheapest had a $125 setup fee with a hour shop labor charge after that.
So I used a jig saw with a metal blade, my belt sander mounted upside down so I could use it as a table sander. Then just a palm sander.
So the whole mount is all aluminum. It's not totally perfect, but close enough for my backroom tank.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

 

[cpschult]

It looks great!

 

[cpschult]

The 3” ss that was set aside ended up being used for a project lol. I started playing with the 6” but decided it was to heavy. Bent a 1” wide piece and will try that. I don’t think it will be quite strong enough so I may do a floating hood of some sort instead. Arggg.

 

[NineAndAhalf]

I'll post pictures tomorrow of the stainless radion bracket I made.

 

[cpschult]

I'll post pictures tomorrow of the stainless radion bracket I made.

Did you take pictures? I found a narrower piece I cold forged. Need to get it out of the trunk to measure and drill, hoping it can hold the weight of the 26hd without bending.

 

[NineAndAhalf]

Did you take pictures? I found a narrower piece I cold forged. Need to get it out of the trunk to measure and drill, hoping it can hold the weight of the 26hd without bending.

I did, sorry for the late response. I used 3/4" stainless square tubing welded to make the angle. Then used 16ga stainless to cut out and bend to make the xr15 mount. Then welded it to the tubing. On the tank stand side, I welded on a flat plate with holes punched out so it can be screwed to the stand.

 

[mandi29221]

I did, sorry for the late response. I used 3/4" stainless square tubing welded to make the angle. Then used 16ga stainless to cut out and bend to make the xr15 mount. Then welded it to the tubing. On the tank stand side, I welded on a flat plate with holes punched out so it can be screwed to the stand.

My husband did this at work. Bended the metal. Looks great.

 

[mandi29221]

My husband did this at work. Bended the metal. Looks great.

This is today he fixed the wires. And the hanging wires

 

[NineAndAhalf]

This is today he fixed the wires. And the hanging wires

I like that. Looks very nice

 

[mandi29221]

I like that. Looks very nice

I'm very ocd needs to be level and both lights perfectly straight and this is perfect. I'm buying black zip ties tomorrow tho I can't handle the clear/white ones.

 

[AdamNC]

Any suggestions for a R5-150 light? 27” fixture that has 4 points of contact. I already have the hanging kit from my last Razor light. Wife doesn’t want me to hang from the ceiling and I want to raise it about 2-4” higher than what the legs can do. So I need some easy suggestions from some place like Lowes or HD.

 

[cpschult]

I did, sorry for the late response. I used 3/4" stainless square tubing welded to make the angle. Then used 16ga stainless to cut out and bend to make the xr15 mount. Then welded it to the tubing. On the tank stand side, I welded on a flat plate with holes punched out so it can be screwed to the stand.

Looks great! I’m trying to avoid welding. I lacks skills in that area and can’t makw anything clean.

My husband did this at work. Bended the metal. Looks great.

I could have bent conduit. I did that for an ati fixture I had. I didn’t want this hanging with wires. It is my back up plan if I can’t make this work though.

 

[NineAndAhalf]

Looks great! I’m trying to avoid welding. I lacks skills in that area and can’t makw anything clean.

Completely understandable. I'm a welder by profession so it's just another day in the office for me. I've strongly considered selling mounts if anyone is interested.

 

[Paul B]

I bent the steel for that bridge in the back. But I needed a big vise.

 

[cpschult]

Completely understandable. I'm a welder by profession so it's just another day in the office for me. I've strongly considered selling mounts if anyone is interested.

The guy who did the 6061.com hydra mounts that were real clean stopped making them. I asked if I could get one custom made and he said he's to busy. Looks like there might be a small market. I imagine the demand is low so probably not worth it.

I bent the steel for that bridge in the back. But I needed a big vise.

I'll take three!!