Attn @ Troy
Troy asked me to write this up , I hope it helps.
Like most of you I've done the grip of fear thing on a few kettle handles in my time bending them back into shape. its kinda nerve racking hearing the porcelain crackle and crunch on a nice old kettle and so I started messing around with other options. Today a simple fix that I highly recommend.
The Damage
9 times out of 10 when your lid handle has damage and is bent, one or both of the sides of the strap that is welded to the lid is buckled. . This damage as seen below is usually caused by a drop or some type of hard heavy impact to the side of the handle .
Here are two examples
Today I'm just going to cover straightening a bent handle.
The right tool for the job
Once I had the concept of what I wanted to try I had to find a suitable tool to do the job . A large C - Clamp would kinda do the work but I needed something that would also work at an angle and what I have in c clamps would not do that . I had to use rags to protect the finish and was worried about the heavy clamp dropping on the lid also, so that was no good.
It was then I spotted a set of these at the hardware store and wondered if they would do the job. I've been nothing but pleased .
First they are light weight and easy to operate , the pressure you apply is easy to control because its controlled by how hard you squeeze, giving you great feel in this delicate operation . The best part however is the plastic on the teeth of the clamp , it protects your finish and your able to set the clamp up at angles which really helps.
The Technique with this clamp
Like I mentioned most of the time in a drop situation one side of the strap or the other has failed and it's easy enough to see which way the lid was impacted and then determine the action to put it back into place.
In this case I can see that this lid handle suffered a hard side impact to the left side causing the handle to bend to the right , the point where it is buckled is clearly visible and that's the spot I'm looking for to set up one side of the clamp.
Looking at it , the strap needs to go over and down. I set my clamp up at an angle from the point of buckle on the strap to the point where the strap meets the lid on the opposite side and then with just a few squeezes of the clamp we've reversed the impact and squared the handle back up as good as new. A few little tweaks and it's straight .
Using pieces of other handles will keep things aligned if need be but really once you try this simple process it becomes easy to master. Be sure when your bending the metal back you go slightly beyond straight as it will flex back slightly. If you like to heat up your grill to bend back handles then merely cover your clamp with foil so the plastic won't melt
Next time, dents, a bowling ball and all kinds of sand
Take it easy
Idahawk
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Topic: Straightening a Strap Handle the safe and easy way (Read 8800 times)