I softened the steel with a really hot wood fire. Why is that so hard to believe?
Because I know steel. 40+ years machining and heat treating.
Malleable is not the same as softened. Steel will be a lot softer at 1000F, easily obtainable with a wood fire.
From your own link: "If you are using the hot forming method, you will need to
heat the steel until it is malleable. This can be done with a furnace or a torch."
Softening does not mean malleable. You can soften alloy steels at much lower temperatures, that is part of the tempering process.
Not all steels will react to that- they have to be hardenable to begin with. (Plain carbon steel is not hardenable)
Hardness is not the same as ductility.
Steel is one of the hardest materials to work with. It is very strong and durable, but also very difficult to shape. That's why steelworkers have to be specially trained to work with it. If you're asking, "How do you bend steel?", there are a few things you should know first. Type of Steel First
pipebends.com
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The temperature that you need to heat the steel will depend on the type of steel that you are using. It will need to be at least 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (540 degrees Celsius) for carbon steel,
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Bending pipe can be done cold. "1000 degrees F" might make it slightly easier if it is thin wall, but your torch is much hotter than that. Acetylene and propane torches burn at about 3000 degrees C.
No one, and I mean no one with any knowledge would try to hot-bend steel when it is that cold. That's not even red-hot yet. It will certainly not bend under it's own weight.
You are telling me your open fire made the steel even red-hot? In a 20 mph wind when the embers are being blown away as fast as they form?
Watch that TV show on knifemaking- I forget the name. They heat their blades to white-hot (about 2300 degrees F), and whale on them with sledgehammers and still barely get it to move.