Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Bent Frame

Hi all,

I have a 4’ White Rose that has a slightly bent band. It’s bent on the bottom edge (which is making the circle smaller) and also bent front to back. Look between to O and the S for the bend in the metal. The porcelain is undamaged but the frame is slightly tweaked.
I’m tossing around the idea of removing the sign but then I’ll need to get new bolts that won’t have any patina and hard to find the same style of bolt that was used back then. Could try soaking the hardware to see if I can separate?

Have any of you straightened a band before and could offer some advice? If I do remove the sign to straighten I haven’t masterminded a plan to straighten the band besides heat and a hammer. I’m not sold on this approach. Trying to think how I could get it in my press or something similar……

Your help is appreciated.

Spray the bolts a few times over the course of several days, then use a torch to heat the nut, they should break loose fairly easy, just concentrate the heat on the nut. And it’s not hard to find patina bolts if you break any. I have buckets full.

Straightening the ring shouldn’t be too difficult if you have a press and a hammer. You might want to heat it, if you bang it with a hammer, heat will make it easier. May ding up the sides though. Constant pressure would be best.

Find a piece of hard material same thickness as your porcelain sign thickness, set that in the channel to maintain the inside shape and straighten in a 4” shop vise or hydraulic hand press if you have access to one.
Something you can apply plenty of pressure in the right direction. That would be my first go at it.
Don’t think I would beat on it with a hammer, but if the gauge of steel is thin enough, anything is possible.
The metal will move, just take it in steps.

Appreciate the replies gents. Here's what worked.

I cut a piece of 3/4 plywood in a semi circle (approx. 3' long and 8" in width) to fit inside the top of the frame that wasn't bent. This provided me with a flat surface to rest the bottle jack on as well as stability to the top of the frame. My thinking was, if I make the semi circle span 3' it will provide lots of strength and won't bend when I start jacking the bend out on the adjacent end of the frame. Sure enough the bent area started to go back into position and the other end when the semi circle was stayed true to shape. No heat required. I then positioned it in my press to remove a small bend in the outer flange and honestly you can't even tell the sign was ever bent. I should have taken some photos as it worked very well.