Advice Needed Bending Steel bar on a Weld ?

[Spiff]

Good afternoon from a windy Mullion Cove Cornwall.

I have two 350 mm stand off brackets purchased cheap on eBay, ex Sat Super Store.

The fully welded type.

I wish to bend the three legs in so that they will be at right angles to the pole fixing bracket.

By cutting the legs and bolting them to another bracket so that there is a pole mounting bracket at either end, the idea is to mount a second dish on the same pole.

The second dish will be stood off, this is necessary as both dish motor mounts require the top end of a pole to fix to.

Perhaps sounds a crazy idea, but I intend to try it anyway : )

The question is I know I could bend the 2 inch wide x 1/4 inch thick bar from its present position to a right angle, but the point I wish to bend it on is the weld between the leg and the pole fixing plate.

Is the weld going to be happy with this ?

Would heating at the weld help ?

We have had a good look online but could not find advice about bending at a weld.

Now I know this forum has some gentlemen who fabricate their own brackets, so they may have the experience in such matters.

God Bless Spiff

 

[blademedia]

Hi Spiff, its not a good idea to bend on welds, use spacers and longer bolts to get your desired angle,

Also remember they are at this angle for stabilisation, narrowing the angle will make them less stable.

 

[PaulR]

On the technical aspect of the welding alone I would say don't try to bend. There is a slight difference in structure between weld and the steel itself. The weld is slightly stronger than the surrounding steel and you'll end up ripping the junction of the weld on the steel.

If you need to alter the angle it's best to grind the weld away, reset the angle and then weld again.

 

[Spiff]

Thank you gentlemen for your replies : )

I shall leave the bend at the weld as it is and make the bend two or three inches further along the bar.

As there will be two of these brackets back to back, bending further along the bar will also enable me to make the spacing wider on one bracket so that it fits outside of the other.

God Bless Spiff

 

[Channel Hopper]

If you did 'adjust' the lower arm to be 90 degrees from the pole, you would need to cut it back as the arm would be longer than the other two - even with their own necessary rework on a vertical wall.

Sell them on and use them to pay for something that works ( I have galvanised triangulated wall bracketry here btw)

 

[moonbase]

...Sell them on and use them to pay for something that works ( I have galvanised triangulated wall bracketry here btw)

It's a good point made by "Channel Hopper", You could get a set of galvanised T & K brackets and with a long enough pole you could fix one dish above the top bracket and one dish below the bottom bracket. I have attached a picture showing how I have done it for a pair of dishes. Although I have only used a pair of 78cm Zone 2 Sky dishes, it should be possible to apply the logic to larger dishes and poles?

Depending on the size of the dishes you might need an extra T bracket between the upper and lower brackets to stabilise the pole. Also it might be safe to check that your anchorage bolts into the wall are OK for the extra wind load incurred by adding another dish.

Alternatively, you could get a longer pole to replace your existing pole and just add one extra bracket below the pair of existing brackets and use those 3 brackets with the longer pole, one dish above the top bracket and one dish either below the botton bracket or between the lower 2 brackets?

That picture reminds me, my back wall rendering could do with a coat of paint and the fascia's and soffit's need a wash, another job.....


Rgds

 

[Spiff]

Job for your good lady there, the exercise is good for them : )

Thank you for your replies Blademedia, PaulR, Channel Hopper & Moonbase.

The problem with the two dish motor brackets is that they both have to be dropped onto the top end of the pole and the pole only has one top end, unlike yours which are bolted to the face of the pole.

The modifications I wish to do to these spare brackets will enable me to clamp another short pole, ten inches of so spaced from the existing pole, the existing pole is held to the wall by two brackets.

Unfortunately there is no more space to fit further wall brackets in an easily accessible position without trees in the line of sight.

As they say a picture paints a thousand words.

Please see image.

I wish I had paid more attention to art lessons now : )

God Bless Spiff

 

[moonbase]

...The problem with the two dish motor brackets is that they both have to be dropped onto the top end of the pole and the pole only has one top end, unlike yours which are bolted to the face of the pole

Spiff,

Ah, your mounting heads have to sit on top of a pole. You are planning to "sub let" a section of your existing wall fixed pole to another pole in order to create a vacant pole top. It's an interesting concept, I have not seen a "pole sub letting" installation before, I look forward to the pictures. Are you planning to use the same size dishes for each pole top?

Best of luck with the installation, I hope it proceeds as planned.


Rgds

 

[Spiff]

Hallo Moonbase,

Sub let that is a good description : )

The landlord pole already has a 1.3m aluminium ku band dish and is very stable.

The two wall brackets have a total of 12 raw bolts, I have stood on them and nothing moves.

The sub let dish for C band is a 1.4 m aluminium, I have tested it on a temporary mount and received stations on 5w and 20 east so far.

A lovely day here, great to be alive, I may get the hacksaw out and make a start on those brackets.

Will take some photos along the way as it is good to share and hear from you gentlemen : )

God Bless Spiff

 

[moonbase]

Spiff,

How did your modification work out to sub let the landlord pole to a tenant pole?

If you have not started on it, there was a post by forum member "st1" that shows how he added a second pole using clamps. It might be something you could adapt to your needs if you have not yet started on the project?

Check out post 21 by "st1" in the topic I have linked to below, there are two pictures of the clamps and how they were used to add an extra pole.

Just Sharing This - 4.5" to 3" Pole Adapter


Rgds

 

[Spiff]

Good afternoon Moonbase from a sunny Mullion Cove Cornwall.

Thank you for taking the trouble to send me that link : )

It is a nice simple solution, I wish I had thought of that.

I went ahead with my original plan and apart from setting fire to myself with sparks from the grindstone ( Alanna said it was going to happen but I would not listen ) all is now installed.

I have just finished tidying the wiring and am about to replace the USB to cat5 camera feed with USB repeaters as they work a lot better.

The camera is to view a scale on the mount, I also have two on the KU band mount.

I have taken photos along the way, including the fire : ) and will post them later.

I am now about to work on an idea to rotate the C band LNB polarity insert by motor so as to switch between right and left hand circular polarity by remote.

The idea is to drill a hole in the rear of the LNB and put a shaft through the length of the LNB with the insert on it.

The water / insect cover at the front will suspend the other end of the shaft.

The insert with either have to be cut down to turn inside the locating slots or the slots will have to be ground off.

I do not know if reducing the size of the incert will reduce its properties ?

Also what sort of material to use for the shaft, metal may not be good, perhaps a hard plastic knitting needle.

A cog could then be fitted to the rear end of the shaft and a small motor to drive it, perhaps using parts from an old video recorder.

A thicker piece of material at the rear end will also give the shaft more stability.

All this is so that I will not have to send Alanna out on cold winter nights to change to polarity : )

God Bless Spiff

 

[Spiff]

Good evening from a chilly Mullion Cove Cornwall.

One tenant bracket complete, it was constructed from a pair of SSS wall brackets obtained cheap on eBay : )

Bending the brackets by hand and hammer was fairly easy, the metal bent after the welds which are stronger.

While using the grinder to cut the brackets to size I set fire to my coat, Alanna kept telling me it was going to catch fire.

I never listen : )

The most difficult part was making sure both pole fixing plates were parallel while drilling the bolt holes.

The next job is to lift the pole up so that the KU band dish is at gutter height, then move the C band dish up to clear the balcony railings to the west : )

God Bless Happy Easter to all. Spiff Allen & Alanna

 

[moonbase]

The tenant has moved in to the the new place of residence

Rgds