Stretching lead

While stretching some lead this afternoon I got to wondering, by how
much should you stretch it anyway? The way my homebrew stretcher works
it yanks it by about 3 to 4 inches. That's enough, too much or just
about right?

From the classes I took some time ago I remember you do it to the make
the came stronger, smooth out the nicks etc. Wondering though, would
the lead to to "unstretch" itself, thereby tightening everything in
the process?

Bart.

custom compensated banjo bridges,
tabs, stained glass: www.haruteq.com

**may your moments of need be met by moments of compassion**

you're work hardening it by stretching it. no, it won't unstretch.

"Bart V" wrote in message
...
While stretching some lead this afternoon I got to wondering, by how
much should you stretch it anyway? The way my homebrew stretcher works
it yanks it by about 3 to 4 inches. That's enough, too much or just
about right?

From the classes I took some time ago I remember you do it to the make
the came stronger, smooth out the nicks etc. Wondering though, would
the lead to to "unstretch" itself, thereby tightening everything in
the process?

Bart.

custom compensated banjo bridges,
tabs, stained glass: www.haruteq.com

**may your moments of need be met by moments of compassion**

"Bart V" wrote in message
...
While stretching some lead this afternoon I got to wondering, by how
much should you stretch it anyway? The way my homebrew stretcher works
it yanks it by about 3 to 4 inches. That's enough, too much or just
about right?

From the classes I took some time ago I remember you do it to the make
the came stronger, smooth out the nicks etc. Wondering though, would
the lead to to "unstretch" itself, thereby tightening everything in
the process?

Bart.


Conventional wisdom is to stretch it till it gets straight. That may be
1/2" or a few inches. Stretching it does almost nothing to add strength. An
urban legend.

--
JK Sinrod NY
Sinrod Stained Glass
www.sinrodstudios.com
Coney Island Memories
www.sinrodstudios.com/coneymemories

"jk" wrote in
et:


"Bart V" wrote in message
...
While stretching some lead this afternoon I got to wondering, by how
much should you stretch it anyway? The way my homebrew stretcher
works it yanks it by about 3 to 4 inches. That's enough, too much or
just about right?

From the classes I took some time ago I remember you do it to the
make the came stronger, smooth out the nicks etc. Wondering though,
would the lead to to "unstretch" itself, thereby tightening
everything in the process?

Bart.


Conventional wisdom is to stretch it till it gets straight. That may
be
1/2" or a few inches. Stretching it does almost nothing to add
strength. An urban legend.


JK,
can you clairify that statement please? Lead does indeed stress harden
by stretching so I am not sure what you mean by 'strength'. Most all
metals can be hardened by bending or stretching. This is the reason they
get brittle and break.

Regards,
G^2


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In article , Glenn@lg-
studios.no.frigging.junk.com says...
[...]
JK,
can you clairify that statement please? Lead does indeed stress harden
by stretching so I am not sure what you mean by 'strength'. Most all
metals can be hardened by bending or stretching. This is the reason they
get brittle and break.

A good article on lead stretching and why it doesn't really add strength
is at http://tinyurl.com/zfba

The short version (as I understand it): the hardening is temporary, and
you're actually making the lead weaker in the long run if you stretch it
too much.

cheers,
Marc

Another (lengthy) posting on the subject is here
http://www.warner-criv.com/glasschat...1&group=0&srch
Elizabeth in UK

In article ,
says...
Another (lengthy) posting on the subject is here
http://www.warner-criv.com/glasschat...1&group=0&srch
Elizabeth in UK


Actually, that's the article I just posted. I just ran the URL through
tinyurl.com first so that it didn't wrap the screen and cause problems
for some newsreaders.

Sinrod has it right - it's an urban legend that stretching lead
increases it's strength. The only reason to stretch lead is to
straighten it. If you didn't mangle it, there's no reason to stretch
it.

Not only does stretching NOT strengthen lead - it permanently weakens
it. If you use the lead as it comes from the box, you'll have a
stronger panel than if you stretch it before using it.

Dennis Brady
DeBrady Glass
http://www.debrady.com