straightening titanium tent stakes

[Jerry Adams]

I used my Titanium tent stakes in hard soil – that is there were big rocks underneath

A couple of my new Titanium stakes got bent a little. 1/8th inch diameter.

What's the best way to straighten them?

I've used pliers before

If you bend metal back and forth a bunch of times it gets metal fatigued and eventually breaks. I don't want to do that.

If you heat steel and then quench it, it will harden it, does Titanium do the same thing?

[Bob Gross]

You might try a heavy hand sledge.

–B.G.–

[Ken Strayer]

Unless you have a forge I doubt you can get the Ti hot enough. It's melting point is significantly higher than steel.

[Roger Caffin]

For a small big-radius bend, use a vice and some pliers.
For a sharp small-radius bend you will need to take it up to red heat.

Cheers

[Sam Farrington]

You might try a metal rod or bar bender. M-C has a little one for under $10. But is doesn't have a lever to make the job easier.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#rod-benders/=b1vf98

OR, try borrowing a rebar bender with a lever from anyone who builds foundations.

I've been using a little lever one that mounts in a vise to bend 3/16" Ti stakes into elbows. Alas, could not find it on the web. They generally work both to bend and straighten, but the good ones are pricey. The little one does a much neater job than visegrips and a vise.

[Lawson Kline]

Just bend them back into shape with your hands.. As long as there isn't a hard bend they will be fine..

[Jerry Adams]

After I bend them back with my hands, will they bend easier the next time I use them (which would be a bad thing)?

I have 1/4 inch aluminum stakes and they bent easier than the Ti stakes, so I still like the Ti stakes

[Lawson Kline]

Titanium has alot of memory and bending the stakes back should not affect their performance in the future. What stakes do you have?

[Jerry Adams]

I got some orange BPL stakes maybe 6 months ago

So far I like them well

They only got bent when I was at a car campground and there were big rocks underneath, I should have been more careful

[Roger Caffin]

> I got some orange BPL stakes maybe 6 months ago
They'll be fine, they do NOT soften. I've been using and hammering some for years.

Cheers

[Lawson Kline]

Where did the bend? By any chance did they bend at top in between the duplex head where the cord hole goes through?

[Jerry Adams]

Picture being worth 1000 words:

I knew there was a rock down there but I just beat on the stake harder. My own fault. If I tried enough other spots I would have found a place the stake would have penetrated. It was raining. No good big rocks around.

[Lawson Kline]

I thought you might be talking about the nail stakes with the flattened thru hole weakness point but those hooks have a really bad design. The apex of the hook isn't over the center spine and is the reason your stakes bent. Just straighten them as good as and while your at it see if you can bend an opposing angle where the hook meets the shaft. Look at a Vargo tent stake for a reference. You could always try to bend an eye but its pretty hard with just pliers.. Either way you go it will help things out alot. Good Luck

[Jerry Adams]

Yeah, I know what you mean, the Ti rod bends back the other direction slightly before curving around.

When you pound on it, if you strike from a particular angle it sort of bounces.

But, regardless, the stakes are perfectly usable.

Let's see a picture of one of your stakes as an example of how it should be.

[Jerry Adams]

Here, I snagged this from your website:

[Author]

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