Can stainless steel be heated and bent

This isn't a tractor repair question, but I figured that the collective knowledge of the group may have some input.

I have an old bucket milker. (Yes, some people still milk cows with a bucket.) I purchased a new top for it with a nice, new vacuum actuated pulsator. No electronics needed. This setup works like a charm, with one issue.

The new top has a built-in handle, as all bucket milker tops have. There is a sloped part towards the back that ends with a little notch in the center of the handle. It's designed so that the bucket handle is a spring/friction fit. When you pull the handle up, it slides on the slope, getting tighter and tighter, until you get to the end of the slope, and the preload on the now-slightly-stretched handle locks it into place in the little notch. At that point, the bucket lid is held down fast by the bucket handle.

Problem is, my handle is too long to engage the new lid. The handle is stainless steel rod, maybe a quarter inch in diameter. It's attached to the bucket at both ends simply passing through a tab welded on the side of the bucket and having a circular curl about 3/4" in diameter bent into it.

Would I be able to heat these handle ends with a torch enough to straighten and rebend without ruining the "stainless" quality of the stainless steel?

Hard for me to picture, I have never been around anything like that. If it is only ¼ inch you may be able to do it cold. If you heat it it will be discolored unless you polish it up. Don't get it too hot, just hot enough to bend it.

First I"d try cold bending half way between the curl and the top, on both sides. Used to do that with ours decades ago. Pull up that portion, lowers the center.

google "delaval bucket milker". Shows the bail he is talking about, or similar.

Is there room for a thicker gasket, or a double one....between the pail and lid?

Only an Oxy/acet torch will be hot enough for that. Propane torch no way.

(quoted from post at 15:49:19 07/20/15) First I"d try cold bending half way between the curl and the top, on both sides. Used to do that with ours decades ago. Pull up that portion, lowers the center.

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That sounds like a good, non-destructive, method. I'll try that one.

A good idea, but the difference is too big. It's about a half inch gap from the lid handle to the bucket handle.

You will not hurt SS by heating it up red hot, I do it all the time to bend it into shape. It gets it's properties by a percentage of nickel added to it, once these metals are mixed you can't unmix them. You just can't cut it with an oxy/acet. cutting torch as it will splatter all over and explode, a plasma cutter or abrasive wheels work fine. When the heated up portion cools down it will be blue or blackish with carbon residue, but will polish back up to shiny. If you use a steel wire wheel it will leave residue that will rust, so you need to use a SS wire wheel, sandpaper, buffing compound, or just leave it. I just heated up some 1/4" SS rod with my propane plumbing torch red hot and pounded the ends flat and drilled 1/4" holes for a battery hold down. Heat away!

You could also form and attach a pad to the top of the lid handle to take up some space.