Straightening Fork lift Forks, Will it work??

[@N1RKW]

Some of the very best repair techniques are the ones that you can't recommend to others. Kudos on a fine repair job.

[@jeffpreskitt741]

You have taught that young man well!!! He has made a hellava hand!! You should be very proud 👊👊

[@davemarks7322]

Fear and respect for that press which can inflict a lethal hit if provoked. Really good video.

[@dirtfarmer7472]

Earlier watched Kurtis & Karen, now Isaac. Now if Gregg, On Fire, & I’ll be good for the week.

[@cole-h3s]

The amount of respect this man shows the material.

[@supertramp6011]

The Man eats breathes and sleeps metal. I learn a lot from him. Nice, genuine dude too. 👌🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@danielpullum1907]

That guy can drive my fork lift any day. Oh, i don't have a fork lift, fork lift. I do have a Kubota with a quick attach fork attach. Well done as always. You are the team!!!!!!

[@mattzimmerman5967]

Metal Fatigue: weakened condition induced in metal parts of machines, vehicles, or structures by repeated stresses or loadings, ultimately resulting in fracture under a stress much weaker than that necessary to cause fracture in a single application. You can make them look straight, but they are now a ticking time bomb.

[@larrywall1642]

It’s only wrong if it doesn’t work. Great job well done.

[@johnblecker4206]

Nice to see different repairs like this thanks.

[@mitchberryman2728]

You have the best brand forklift ever made. Awesome job on forks

[@trace6402]

Trying to relax while under pressure. Welcome to my world.

[@chrisduncan2626]

Turn that top blade into a flattening bar and get a new one for breaking stuff. That way you can do both with precision 😎 great work. Im sure the customer is more than happy

[@olavmsonge5221]

Press is the most dangerous machine in the shop. Glad all went well. Happy Christmas

[@SimpleLife1971]

Anytime I see damage like this I automatically think of what caused this initially. The forces involved are tremendous but then again so is the force applied to correct it. Bending or forming metal of any kind you'll encounter spring back. Over bend then adjust. Great work team Issac!

[@johnoliver9885]

It seems to me that when you bend forks that badly they tend to bend easier the next time in the same spot.

[@chadsimmons6347]

We borrowed a big telescoping lift from the framers on a big apartment complex site, we needed to move some bundles of 6"cats iron pipe to upper floors, my helper pushed forks into the bottom bundle, the big machine upended, and a fork bent badly then broke off a foot long end piece, no i didnt ask him to lift both bundles at once

[@SimpleLife1971]

@@chadsimmons6347 Thanks for the reply Chad!

[@JonDingle]

I know the feeling when a press is under pressure on a part. Once when trying press out a bearing on a wheel, the dolly pinged out and into the mesh cage which was fitted to the 50ton press. In the end, the wheel hub broke out of the naive plate with the bearing stick fast inside it. Dangerous work if you not careful. Top stuff Isaac and a great video too!

[@shockwavecity]

high pucker factor on this one!

[@johngersna3263]

Saw a guy run a fork through a steel column in a warehouse once. I didn't actually see him do it but I got there about a minute later. It was so hot you would burn your fingers on it. I don't know how fast he was going but I can imagine. Good thing he had a seat belt on.

[@bigyellowjimmy]

Nice! I need to do the same with the forks on my skidsteer. Wasnt sure if I should bend em hot or cold. Now I know. Love your channel!

[@ICWeld]

Glad to help!

[@andrewredman517]

"Bend it like Beckham" ... Great job!

[@BarnyardEngineering]

The Torch King is now the Sketchy Pressing King! Long live the king!

[@Sorrybusyfishing]

I can feel all the fear that you’re feeling using that press on the end of that ironworker. I’ve been there and it’s not a good feeling at all haha.

[@mfc4591]

We were always told, never heat or cut or grind a fork, any damage resulted in the fork being scraped. Most of them were scrapped due to wear on the heel after many years hard labour.

[@bige.3474]

I would say it's straight. No charge. No paperwork. No warranty. No evidence that it was ever touched. Don't come back.

[@joepacheco4038]

You're allowed to dress up the tips with a grinder right on rest

[@michaelweatherhead9470]

Thanks for the video Issac and Son nice work 👍✅❤️❤️ it. Take care of yourself and family ❤️

[@mitsnevets]

i always wondered if it could be done now i know , Thanks Issac !

[@aserta]

Neat. I honestly didn't expect it to work.

[@alexsteel5959]

Taking out the bend cold is definitely the best way. 👍😎

[@barrysimmons5489]

Nice! Greetings from South Carolina. Hope Y'all have a blessed 'n Merry Christmas.

[@jameslindley924]

Thanks for posting - Good to Know its Viable

[@johnwesner3935]

Hey Issac, great to see your apprentice is still hanging around. Great job to keep him at it. It takes a lifetime to teach what you've learned in your life experience. Your iron worker would work great for re- arching leaf springs. I was taught in the late 60s to do it with a big hammer and a piece of heavy channel iron. The last set I did was two years ago. I watched a spring shop do it with a big press. Easier than the hammer technique. I always have to hold the spring in place because nobody else will do it!:( Thanks, I always learn something!:)

[@oskarbud525]

Nice work Isaac.

[@kimber1958]

NICE FIX

[@williambaker1753]

Nice job on straightining the forks sux you dinged up your press blade I didn't see that coming we live and we learn.

[@bob-the-Millwright]

That is how it is done! In our shop we leave the forks on the lift (20k lb Hysters and Volvos) move our 100 ton press to the middle of the shop floor and start pressing as you did, straight edges and a tape measure measuring to the floor gets the job done. Forks are made from 4140 Chromoly and are really tuff. takes a lot of inattention to bend one and a lot of stupid to break one and it happens!

[@KPutubing]

Howdy from Sacramento! Always fascinating to watch you work. Thanks for sharing!

[@davidmunro1469]

I worked a leather press with twenty inch rams for ten years. I saw some very large broken metal.😊

[@hgbugalou]

holy cow, sketch city! Good work though!

[@LightningFabrication]

Issac, We had a Piranha Iron Worker at work like yours. Someone bent some metal in it off center and cracked the main arm through the bolt hole where the wedge die attaches. I noticed you were on center and there is a warning on the wedge die, but just thought you'd like to know that it can happen.

[@robertquast9684]

I straightened out forks that were bent above the 90 degree bend. 2 3/8 ratchet binders and chains and a lot of pucker factor. They bend so easy the first time

[@regsparkes6507]

I think I was tensed almost as much as you guys were! :)

[@chotuusian4127]

Good work

[@davidmunro1469]

Thank you team. Isaac you are a braver man then I am . Well done😊

[@ls2005019227]

I'm not sure what type of steel that forks are made from....but it's generally pretty good stuff. I've never bent one, but have rewelded the blocks where they connect to the frame. Glad it worked out!

[@zacharytuttle5618]

Thats not how steel works at all, there's no good one. I hope your boss knew what kind of steel it was before you guys welded on it.

[@knurlgnar24]

@@zacharytuttle5618 I'm not sure what you're going on about Zachary, but I'd agree with OP. Most everyone who knows their stuff will agree that 4340 is 'pretty good stuff' and it welds just fine. Welding on forklift tines is generally not done for safety reasons though.

[@zacharytuttle5618]

@knurlgnar24 Well as far as bending steel goes, there's always a trade-off between ductility and hardness. Brittle steel isn't bad or good but you shouldn't bend it. Definitely a bad idea to weld unknown steels, you have no idea what sort of preheating/post-heating it should have so it doesn't crack. Or the compatibility of the welding wire. It would be impossible to rate the strength of your weld. For 4130 I believe you should be using a high nickel wire and preheating around 300°F.

[@gregshearer423]

@@zacharytuttle5618 Unknown steels so in your mind 99% of welding repairs out there are dodgy cause there welding steel they don’t know 😂😂

[@zacharytuttle5618]

@Greg Shearer generally you have some intuition that forklift forks are not plain old a36 or 1018... yes I think there are probably a lot of incorrectly done weld repairs. They fail all the time.

[@jp-um2fr]

England. I had visions of a hammer head joining the space station (Hopefully the Russian section) with a bit of I C Weld attached. Though I’ve belted you and flayed you, By the livin’ Gawd that made you, You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din! (Rudyard Kipling)

[@bubbagreensmith7174]

I was scared and I live all the way in Oregon 😅

[@rypkepaulusma]

Thet often say 'every tool is a hammer if you use it wrong enough'. Don't quite know what to say about this one 🙂 Nice video though.

[@TalRohan]

I saw the title to this and thought I know what those are made of...this could be fun.... Lets see😉

[@timspicer3270]

😊

[@edwarddavis507]

Who’s that operating the forklift like a Boss? LOL. Great team work!

[@michaelmcclure8673]

His Son.

[@BentTreeFarmPa]

I was using a set of forks on my skid steer one time to pop a huge stump out and had them set next to each other, well, one slipped out, and all the lift transferred to the other and bent it a perfect 90 degrees with about a 18" radius lol I still have it around, I cut it up when I need steel for blocks etc.

[@mathewmolk2089]

Love the safety glasses,,,,,that if that hemmer head came out of there would end up out the back of his head.....Even a welding hood would bot save you if something went really wrong. - but he got the job done without getting killed.

[@DXT61]

IC's shop is like mine. I can't move without knocking stuff over and maneuvering around tools to use other tools. And if i built one 3 times bigger i would be back in the same boat within a couple years.

[@Daniel_cheems]

Great team!

[@petermccuskey1832]

Great work even though it was nerve racking.

[@99unclebob]

Great video as always Issac, well I have seen some forks break, bend, crack, and usually get replaced, no body wants to be on the receiving end of a fork breaking, i work in heavy steel and machine and heat treat the stuff and we have have a hydraulic press for taking the camber out of material along its length , most of it is 2" thick and the ram on this beast is 30" in diameter and runs up to 3000 psi, most people and i do mean most people won't understand this is way out of the norm for hydraulics, one of our operators was not paying attention while talking to another worker and snapped in half a 2" thick piece of Boron with silicon 5 in it, 9 feet long , it looked like a branch from a tree you'd break off, it was enough to heard at the rolling mill next door to us, if it wasn't for the cage built around it that was an inch thick , it would have gone through the wall behind it and done untold damage , this operator had partial hearing loss and was wearing PPE, the other person who wasn't suppose to be there was sent home for the day for causing a distraction in an area he was not allowed to be in and the company still payed him for his shift, and we rebuilt the safety cage, the original one shattered and saved allot of possible damage and the new one was to walls thick , each 1" thick material ,2 " between them to absorb any other energy, way over built , better safe then sorry, Issac your knowledge of metal and how it reacts is huge and that's what gives you a healthy respect for it, I would never repair a fork, just torch it and into the bin for the mill next door to recycle 👍

[@markpeterson5479]

If I did it right, that calculates to a one thousand TON press. ( area = pi * radius squared. area = 3.14 * 15 squared = 707 square inches. Then force = area * psi = 707 * 3000 psi = 2,121,000 pounds = 1060 tons ) YIKES!!!! That's a lot of force!!!!! Does any company even make a more powerful press????

[@BruceBoschek]

Fork lift forks are usually made of forged 4340 or 4140 heat-treated steel. Cold bending is the only way to go. Excellent job, as always.

[@johnny8227]

what prevents them from bending them with a blowtorch?

[@keltonwright7]

@@johnny8227 Heat, weakens the temper on the fork. Will bend or break easier after that.

[@yaykruser]

@@keltonwright7 Yeah, but you could cool it off again. Now that secion remains weakened.

[@keltonwright7]

@@yaykruser not sure what you mean by that.

[@yaykruser]

@@keltonwright7 if you cool it down fast (with water or oil) it will harden again. If you do it like the guy in the video the bent section will remain weakened. Just like when you bend a pice of metal over and over it gets weaker and eventually breaks .

[@urbanwillis2212]

Always center work here... LOL!

[@francodeiuliis1562]

That was nerve racking lol half sketchy too lol but it worked and didn’t break thank god Hope you can touch up your upper arm of the ironworker with a grinder nice work Cheers from Nova Scotia

[@DavidGrassSr]

Wow, you got away with it , but thats right on the edage Issac , Be Safe, See ya

[@hobtink]

Yep, trying to bend high strength high tensile steel is a bit stressing. You never know if your going to break it or introduce an unseen stress crack. And heating it to bend it would have ruined the temper and it would have had to be re-tempered and I’ve never don’t that on high tensile spring steel. .

[@hinz1]

Chinesium steel, if it bends that easily. From what I know, it's usually hardened for extra strength, so either it holds or snaps.

[@mrln247]

Had hoped to see some big hammer straightening. Looks like tractor forks really tricky to see what your doing using them I would have suggested just cutting off the bent bit's, back to where they are thicker.

[@ipaddlemyowncanoe.7441]

The best part about this video was you were worried about safety. Safety comes first. That's the main thing. You never know what's going to happen when you're trying to do that but you stood back and you got it done. 👍👍🙂🇨🇦

[@Frank-Thoresen]

You should weld a U shaped profile to the pressure rod piece so the pressure edge doesn't get damaged

[@LoBeau53]

When I use to do stuff like that, while it was under tension I would tap it with a hammer 🔨 to stimulate atom movement in the structure. Don’t know if it really did any good but it didn’t do any harm and it made me feel I was doing something

[@dancearoundtheworld5360]

never had this happen but it makes sense with the softening of a fork as time goes on id try this until it just won't hold 4000lbs on the tip twice

[@bobvel7760]

I get the same feeling when I’m trying to open a pistachio nut.

[@danfisher7856]

I straighten a couple a week at work. 100 ton press makes quick work getting them straight again.

[@davidsnyder2000]

That is one powerful machine you’ve got there. I didn’t think it would bend that steel that far. Amazing. But what a super sketchy feeling being around that machine under load😬 Your braver than me lol😄 Needs a remote control on a long 10’ cable or something…..

[@ICWeld]

My thoughts exactly

[@chris47374]

Be just as easy to get some type plexiglass to hide behind.

[@timturner7609]

You might watch the hydraulic press channel videos of putting hammers in presses. Very high pucker factor

[@mitsosgeo845]

The other week i cut short a pair of those and thin em up

[@tomhysell596]

You had me going there waiting for it to snap

[@ron827]

I always enjoy seeing your son learning the trade.

[@mapleridgeoutdoors4136]

Tool steel is some rugged stuff eh? 😂 as soon as you mentioned the top blade getting chewed up my heart sank. I’ve biffed a few blades on the 20’ Cincinnati press brake at my employer. Apparently when it says “do not exceed 1/2” matl” my employer considers that a challenge on how long it takes to wreck a blade or a die. Thank god I don’t get profit sharing

[@ionstorm3]

Hi Isaac. Your videos are really interesting and informative. They are a real joy to watch. Keep up the good work! Question for you. What are the metal discs on the floor along the wall of your shop and next to your press? They kinda sorta look like wagon wheels haha. I've seen them in several of you videos, and I've always been curious to know what they are. Thanks.

[@SuperSecretSquirell]

The shelves of a rotary parts organizer. Put a shaft through the middle of them and you can put it in the corner and have access to all of the bins by spinning it.

[@robertoobregon3750]

@@SuperSecretSquirell The old hardware stores would use those organizers to hold nails that you bought by the pound. Some places use them now for PVC fittings and other stuff.

[@ionstorm3]

@@SuperSecretSquirell ohhh. That makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.

[@BMGProjects]

Durham Manufacturing makes those parts bins.

[@scotthultin7769]

419👍's up IC WELD thank you for sharing your Great experience with us all

[@haroldwilkerson2026]

When I was in jobcorp in advanced auto I got a valve guide reamer tool stuck in a v8 head tried to use the press to press it out the tool I used shot out and straight up and stuck in the huge old wooden rafter 20 feet above me I think it is still there 30 some years later😂😂

[@richardfuerst5286]

I'm always nervous with my 20 ton manual press. Afraid the part will come shooting out at me!

[@andrewrobinson2869]

Sorry about that damage you might need to make a block of steel with a v in it so next time it’s not the main edge-it will be a attachment that gets damaged

[@mineown1861]

A safety squints on with head retracted down between shoulders kind of job . How did you do it also just how did they do that.

[@NikColyerMachineWorks]

Hey, I loved your videos. A while back you used a tool that made bailing wire into hose clamps. What is the name of that tool?

[@hskim099]

I think the brand name was "Clamptite"

[@GoVIT4L]

In the uk If a fork is damaged, bent, cracked whatever it is binned and has to be replaced in pairs

[@dancearoundtheworld5360]

totally , in the good ol US of A, if it still has some meat on her it'll work and we use to shake hands with danger until the next gen has depreciated in value but on the other hand mechanically inclined people toss out anything that is in there way

[@fztfabs65]

3:27 putting on the safety squints, oh wait... nvm just the anti squints 🤓

[@stevendufresne9994]

👍👍👍

[@henkoosterhof5947]

Ever did this before? Tried to put 2parts of steel under it? Makes the pivot points closer. But how do you get the tension out of the steel? Doesnt it need an anihilation procedure?

[@knurlgnar24]

He didn't want to change the heat treat so he did it cold. I wouldn't touch it for liability reasons but I guess I'm not the expert welder here so...

[@dannico58]

when you wait for it to relax you should rap it with a good-sized ball-peen hammer on the sides and where ever you can get a good even hit, work your way from where you want it to bend outward, not too hard, just enough to shock the metal, also one you get good at this method you'll learn the tones the metal makes as it relaxes, also, very nice work my man, you have rare skills👌

[@jimnelson9911]

Great job, hope top blade was not damaged to much!

[@ICWeld]

I hope so too

[@Mrtinkerr]

A pressure gauge on a press is very handy when sneaking up on over bending. Nice work.

[@MBwelding]

A friend of mine got his truck hit once it bent a dodge 2500 Cummins into a horse shoe we ended up using a wood splitter and chain winch to get it straightened out and back on the road took us a couple days to get it right but it drove straight and didn’t eat tires so I chalked it up to a win for some mountain boys

[@josephgoldstein6062]

I think I'd have to wear a bomb suit to do that lol

[@northmanlogging2769]

I've seen and done some really dumb S with a fork lift, never ever seen the forks get bent, having a hard time imagining how they did it.

[@tomasalvarado207]

😎👍👍

[@michaelminers2612]

Our local ag engineers used to straighten loader tines, but don't now as too many broke and came out through the cage! (In the UK a hyd press has to have a cage around it) Mike

[@williamcunha9136]

Dear Me! I hold to close me eyes and only listen!

[@RobertKohut]

"What the fork" 🙂

[@watchthe1369]

How much torsional heat did you get. Sometimes you do it a little at a time to heat it a little bit to flexible then leave it clamped to cool into new form.

[@ICWeld]

l didn't notice but that's partially why I left it in the pressed position to allow it to relax instead of forcing it too fast.

[@larrysheriff8251]

Back in my day at a cotton mill. A guy hit a I beam and rolled 8" of 1 fork up. So my boss told me to take the old Milwaukee 9" angle grinder and cut it and the other one and make them match. 16 hours later they were good.

[@johne189]

Should've stopped with one shortened fork "dressed" and tried it. That's one of those things... you don't realize how handy one shorter fork can be until you try it. Soon you're "trimming ' one tine on every lift. lol

[@richardellis3141]

very scary, nice work but sad that you messed up your blade.

[@FODman51]

When you said that that was a little scary you hit that won one the head.

[@andrewwitcher7432]

We had a bent fork that we fixed by dropping a lift on it with another lift. No fines were had that day

[@fls360]

I also do not recommend doing this as the fork tip has been work hardened by straightening it. Love the sound of the flathead Continental engine in the Hyster.