Rail bender

[timz1999]

I am looking to make a rail bender. I think the jim crow style would be easy to make and could be used on different size rail. is there any pros or cons that you guys can add to this. also any design tips? or a better way? i will be bending steel rail. I am thinking of using a hydraulic bottle jack (on its side) and a heavy piece of steal.
I also thought about a roller type. but didn't know if it would work steel track.

[Unka Jesse]

Tim,

I made such a hand operated roller for rolling 1/2" square 16 ga. tubing to make my front yard circle of track. With slight modification to the rollers to accomodate the rail head and foot, it would roll steel rail quite handily.

If you are a good little boy, I will try to remember to photograph the machine tomorrow and post it here.

Unka Jesse.

[watt-steam]

Just make sure that your bottle jack will operate on its side. I have a cheap Taiwan made one bought a couple months ago that won;t operate on its' side, only straight up and down. All my other ones work fine in any direction.

Must be something to do with the internal oil tank in it.

[Clover McKinley]

Frank McLean wrote an article entitled "A Simple Rail Bender" that is reprinted in his Shop Wisdom book (available from Village Press). A photocopy of the original article may be arranged through the circulation staff, as well.

The scale of the device is more for garden railway use, but Frank mentions 80-lb. rail and 7-1/4" - 7-1/2" gauges... Perhaps it could be scaled up for heavier duty.

Clover

[Unka Jesse]

Wat old buddy, did you try lying the bottle jack on its side with the pump on the bottom? I had a similar problem and placing the jack that way solved it.

Actually, a roller device will give you the best curvature though you will lose a few inches at each end, but that is typical of all metal bending rolls that I have ever used.

Unka Jesse

[timz1999]

I did know that some jacks didn't work on there sides. The problem with making a roller type is that I would have to make different profiles where the Jim crow could be used on all types of rail IE 12# 16# 18# rail. I think as long as the hooks that go over the rail are strong enough it shouldn't be a problem.

[watt-steam]

Hi Jesse and Tim

My one cheap Taiwan bottle jack will not operate on it side in any direction, pump on top, bottom , left, right etc. It also leaks out the ram seal. However, it works fine if its straight up and down.

All my other jacks will work fine in any oritation. I was just suggesting a check of the jack for the rail bender maker, to make sure it works sideways and maybe save some time if it dont. Shouldn't be a problem to find one that does work sideways.

[Unka Jesse]

Tim, the biggest problem with bending the rail in stages is getting a smooth radius. When I first made my little front yard track (40 foot dia.) I bent the rails by placing two boards on the shop floor and standing on the rail between the boards. Did a pretty fair job of it but nothing like the roller accomplished when I re-did some sections of rail.

Unka Jesse

[Jan-Eric Nystrom]

I took the easy way out. Using a bench vise, I gave the rail a very small bend every 4" or so, as you can see here:

http://www.saunalahti.fi/animato/steam/460/460c.html

The rail is 10 mm (a little over 3/8") square hot-rolled iron, so this will not work for profiled rail, unless you make some kind of contoured vise jaws. It took me only a couple of minutes per 6 ft. length of rail, and on the ground, the many 4" straights blend reasonably well into a smooth curve... http://bbs.livesteam.net//biggrin.gif

Greetings,
J-E

[This message has been edited by Jan-Eric Nystrom (edited 04-02-2006).]