Alt Bike Culture - Shaping Handlebars?

Has anyone tried reshaping handlebars? With heat or cold? If chrome plated how did it affect the chrome? Did you use a jig or just eyeball?

This sounds like something for WTP to answer...

East Hill

I'm getting a little thick in my old age I guess or maybe I always was so what is WTP?:)

That would be member wethepeople. He stops in every so often...

East Hill

I've tried both hot and cold
what worked best was...
filling with sand
then heat
then bend
{don't over do it as often won't bend back]

Cold... grinked and the chrome was bugga-ed

I reshaped a pair of bars a while back, I did exactly what Leigh said above, I filled the bars with fine sand and mounted them in a table vice with wooden softjaws gooved to fit the bars snugly and to prevent crushing them.

I put a light piece of cable sticking out of the bar ends on each side with a heavy washer soldered to the end.

Then I used an acetylene torch on a very low heat setting to evenly heat the bars and bend them, take your time and make sure to not heat the bars to much THEY SHOULD NOT CHANGE COLOR! you will be able to feel when you are bending them how much heat and pressure you will need. Remember, go slow.

The cables on each end are hanging down so you can step back and compare the two sides to make sure you have bent them evenly.

Hope this helps you.

EDIT: if you use a low enough heat with some soot the chrome should be fine.

Thanks folks. That is pretty much what I had in mind but I needed some affirmation. I sometimes think I'm right about something because I want to be but then it turns out I'm not. Better to ask than to press on and make junk into worse junk.:)