Restoring bent clamp

[Toni Ciuraneta]

Hi guys. s.
Three years ago the father of a woman who is a friend of mine, died and she gave me some of of his tools. For some strange reason this man painted all his tools green, which apart from not being my taste, rendered them not so usable IMHO. So I got a pair of clamps that I want to restore (I'll post the process later on) but one of them is slightly bent at the top jaw.
Question: Would you try to straighten it? If so how? Or would you take the easy way out and remove the rivets and cut away that bent part, knowing that the clamp would become about two inches shorter and put the jaw back on?
See illustrative pic attched

 

[Jim DeLaney]

It's going to be hard to get that bar straightened without heating it, so disassembly will likely be required anyway.
Is the clamp's length critical to what you need? If not, I'd take the easy way out and just cut the bent part off.
Wonder why the previous owner painted the bar?

 

[Charles Lent]

Try some solvents to get the green paint off. Start with the more mild solvents like alcohol, then acetone, then paint thinner, and then lacquer thinner. When all else fails, start with a citrus based paint stripper. Ketone would be next, if you can find it.

For straightening, I think Jim suggested what I would do to fix it. Good luck!

Charley

 

[Paul Douglass]

As stated, I would, if I could get the head off, just cut the bent part off (Marines always think alike). And as stated,,, wow,,, I would get rid of that green paint!! Maybe his thinking was, if I paint them ugly,,, no one will steal them..

 

[Leo Voisine]

Is there a local welding shop or machine shop around? They should be able to straighten it in a couple of minutes.

Do you have access to a sand blaster?

 

[Paul Douglass]

I think a welding or machine shop would charge more than that clamp is worth.. Oh oh,,, wrong.. in my first answer... my new answer is toss and buy a new one...

 

[Leo Voisine]

A couple of minutes on an arbor press? I would have done it for free.

 

[Ryan Mooney]

Another vote for cut and shorten.. Unless it's bent further back than it looks like it is. Once you start bending it, it gets weaker so it's also more likely to bend again.

 

[Toni Ciuraneta]

Cuting the bent part away is my first choice, length is not critical, so applying the saying that you never have enough clamps that’s what I’ll do. It will also ease the process of ripping off the green paint.
Why did he paint them? Honestly I do not know. He painted all his tools, the thread of the clamps and handles, the hammer heads and their handles and so forth.
Maybe he was colour blind and that’s the only way he could see them. But it is a really wierd decision IMHO.

 

[Ryan Mooney]

Well I've seen worse colors

I've also seen better colors

 

[Brent Dowell]

Cuting the bent part away is my first choice, length is not critical, so applying the saying that you never have enough clamps that’s what I’ll do. It will also ease the process of ripping off the green paint.
Why did he paint them? Honestly I do not know. He painted all his tools, the thread of the clamps and handles, the hammer heads and their handles and so forth.
Maybe he was colour blind and that’s the only way he could see them. But it is a really wierd decision IMHO.

I've seen where people paint their tools a specific color when working on jobsites to make sure they know what tools are theirs, but that's the only reasonable reason I can see, lol.

 

[Ted Calver]

It's not easy being green.

 

[Toni Ciuraneta]

Maybe he was green with envy so wanted to be coherent… LOL

 

[bill kaminski]

I've seen where people paint their tools a specific color when working on jobsites to make sure they know what tools are theirs, but that's the only reasonable reason I can see, lol.

My dad did exactly this. Had to know his tools, in a large shop. His were dark green tho, I have many, proudly.