DPS Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 (edited) So I managed to bend my aluminum crampons. They are still functional, however, some of the downward pointing points now are splayed to the outside. Should I try to bend them back into position (possibly weakening them further) or leave them as they are? Thanks for your input. Edited June 16, 2006 by danielpatricksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Choada_Boy Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Bend. Do not heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Aluminum weakens markedly when it is bent and straightened. You'd want to anneal them so they will regain their strength. Annealing involves heating the entire article to a specified temperature and cooling at a proscribed rate. Not sure where you could have that done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Since it doesn't sound like the frontpoints, I'd recommend just bending them back in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
still_climbin Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 (edited) High strength aluminum alloys are precipitation hardened. This occures by heating the metal (it comes form the supplier "solution heat treated" which is soft) to a carefully specified temperature for a given period of time. During this treatment alloy constituents such as copper pricipitate as a fine array of crystals in the aluminum microstructure, hardening the metal. The metal is now not very ductile and rebending your crampon points back to verticle must be done very carefully to avoid cracks. Yes, the re-bent points will not be a strong as they were origionally. DO NOT heat or anneal the metal as this will just further the precipication process making it harder and more brittle. Is is possible to repeat the solution heat treatment for some alloys followed by repeating the precipitation hardeding process, but this would be a very precise, complex set of heat treatment steps and cannot be done without special engineering and equipment support. I would not trust reheated crampons. To have it done commercially would be prohibitively expensive. Edited June 16, 2006 by still_climbin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underworld Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 get steel...don't anneal! but anyway - leave them how they are unless you have a good materials handbook to tell you how to cook them afterwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyHarry Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Take them back to where you bought them and get new ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 ah yes, back to good olde REI were you should tear them into shreds before any smuck who tries to flip you shit over your total lack of 100% satisfaction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weekend_Climberz Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 It would be cool to see you crush them in front of the manager too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-spotter Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 ...on your forehead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
counterfeitfake Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Is his appearance intimidating enough for him to pull it off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Posted June 16, 2006 Author Share Posted June 16, 2006 I bought the crampons at Pro Mountain Sports. Somehow I don't think Jim would be very intimated by me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-spotter Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 No, if you wanted to initmate him you'd need some candles, wine and a nice dinner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Choada_Boy Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 I bent my crampons and brought them back to REI to demand a refund, even though I bought them at MEC. HARDCORE!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad_A Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 initmate intimate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-spotter Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Don't intimidate me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.