hello
I am in the process of building a soapbox car for my brother's son and I plan to make a steering wheel out of 15mm metal pipes, which should be bent to a diameter of about 18-20 cm. How should I proceed? I have been thinking about whether there is some type of electrical conduit spring to insert into the pipe to prevent it from kinking. Can you heat it up with some propane torch or something to soften it a bit? I also considered copper pipes, which are softer, but I would like to be able to weld on a steering column and a central hub, and you can't really combine copper/iron in a weld joint, can you? Grateful for answers from any blacksmith or others with tips and ideas.
I am in the process of building a soapbox car for my brother's son and I plan to make a steering wheel out of 15mm metal pipes, which should be bent to a diameter of about 18-20 cm. How should I proceed? I have been thinking about whether there is some type of electrical conduit spring to insert into the pipe to prevent it from kinking. Can you heat it up with some propane torch or something to soften it a bit? I also considered copper pipes, which are softer, but I would like to be able to weld on a steering column and a central hub, and you can't really combine copper/iron in a weld joint, can you? Grateful for answers from any blacksmith or others with tips and ideas.
A steel steering wheel doesn't sound very nice, unnecessarily much work, and consider that children are soft! Go to the scrapyard and buy a sports steering wheel instead. (or Mekonomen and similar)