Has Anybody Ever . .

[DUCBOS]

Has anyone had any experience in bending hook eyes?

Can you heat say a 3/0 EWG forged or wire hook eye enough to slip a wire loop into it then bend it back?

Will a butane tourch get hot enough to do this? Or, will it just break?

I guess you could stick it in water and cool it fast to maintain the hardness afterward.

Just don"t know.

I know my heat gun will not.

I can think of all kinds of things to do if I can bend the hook, especially the eye.

Thought I would ask before I buy a torch.

[toadfrog]

Has anyone had any experience in bending hook eyes?

Can you heat say a 3/0 EWG forged or wire hook eye enough to slip a wire loop into it then bend it back?

Will a butane tourch get hot enough to do this? Or, will it just break?

I guess you could stick it in water and cool it fast to maintain the hardness afterward.

Just don"t know.

I know my heat gun will not.

I can think of all kinds of things to do if I can bend the hook, especially the eye.

Thought I would ask before I buy a torch.

It would be better if you cool the hook in motor oil. Also if you intend to use a lot of hooks hook mfg. will do special runs to give you an open eye hook. Some hooks are currently sold that way now. Check EC and other Mfg.

[cadman]

Has anyone had any experience in bending hook eyes?

Can you heat say a 3/0 EWG forged or wire hook eye enough to slip a wire loop into it then bend it back?

Will a butane tourch get hot enough to do this? Or, will it just break?

I guess you could stick it in water and cool it fast to maintain the hardness afterward.

Just don"t know.

Yes a torch will get it hot enough so you can bend it into a pretzel if you want. Also you can water quench or oil quench to harden the hook as mentioned above. The problem here is that you don't know how hard is hard. If you harden it too much it may snap when you're fighting a fish because it is too brittle. I'm not a big fan of doing this as I just mentioned. If you are a hook manufacturer and the equipment to do break testing and hardness testing than no problem. Like Toadfrog mentioned, it's better to buy hooks from the manufacturer and if the quantity allows, a special run.

Edited December 18, 2010 by cadman

[psilvers]

If you get the open eye hooks, will they weaken when you bend them back? I have used split rings in the past to attach hooks, but they would NOT be as strong as a hook-ring connection --- IF bending the eye back would not weaken the hook.

Two other questions:

1- With the open eye hooks can you bend them back without heating?

2- If a manufacturer does not make an open eye in the style that I want, what kind of minimum order would I be looking at? I realize this will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer but I was just looking for a ballpark estimate.

Pete

[sdsaw]

If it is a black nickel plated hook, the plating will crack and flake if you bend it too much

Did not experience any problems bending the eye of a Mustad zinc plated saltwater hook. Even without heating it.

[sdsaw]

If you get the open eye hooks, will they weaken when you bend them back? I have used split rings in the past to attach hooks, but they would NOT be as strong as a hook-ring connection --- IF bending the eye back would not weaken the hook.

Two other questions:

1- With the open eye hooks can you bend them back without heating?

2- If a manufacturer does not make an open eye in the style that I want, what kind of minimum order would I be looking at? I realize this will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer but I was just looking for a ballpark estimate.

Pete

My thought is if a manufacture is selling an open eye hook, it is designed to bent back to close it without much weakening

You probably won't find an open eye hook labeled "needle point" or "ultra point", etc. because those type of hooks are heat treated and too hard to be very pliable for bending

[airbrushextreme]

I have heated 3/0-5/0 with a candle enought to open then close to attach to wire just like the Tommy Biffle Hardhead I think too much heat will weaken them so I just used the candle and it worked for me

[DUCBOS]

I have heated 3/0-5/0 with a candle enought to open then close to attach to wire just like the Tommy Biffle Hardhead I think too much heat will weaken them so I just used the candle and it worked for me

That is one of the things I was looking to do.

The only open eye hook I could find was a Mustad straight shank.

Not exactly the best for this application.

It was made for hooking hooks together in a line.

Edited December 20, 2010 by DUCBOS

[airbrushextreme]

I made my mold to mold the wire in with the hook attached but I find it easier to use the candle method than wrestle with the hok and wire to get it right