0.050 Aluminum Bendy Enough?

[fornesto]

The lightest aluminum I could find is 0.050. Will this still make the curves on my Kuffle Comet design?

[Chuck Craven]

What is the Aluminum number 3003, 4004,5005, 6061?
There should be an S or H number also.
This will tell us how hard the sheet is.
6061 H60 is quite hard aircraft aluminum and .050 can be bent to .10” R before it will start to stress crack.
The 4004 can be bent over it’s self an not show any stress cracking.
The more you hammer on aluminum the harder it gets. But I think you are looking at the front and back curves,
you should have no problems with any of the aluminum types. You just don’t want to use dead soft as it will be very
hard to work with out damaging it.

Chuck

[mikeschn]

I used a dead soft .060 (I think) aluminum on my first Benroy, and it bent like a charm. No problems at all... the hardened aluminum angle that I had to soften and bend around the profile was a little more difficult!!!

Mike...

[fornesto]

I've got a quote for (2) @ 0.050 3003 (60" x 120") Mill finish for the roof, and (2) @ 0.040 5005 (48" x 120") Mill finish for the sides. About to pull the trigger. I've just got to find a loading dock to accept the package.

I got two pieces for the roof section (20 lf total). I might make a countertop out of some scrap, or a nice back splash.

$339 total

[Chuck Craven]

Southern Aluminum Supply has sheet stock down to .032 In 5005 H14, which is just on the low end of the hardness scale.
I have bent this stock over it’s self and had no stress cracking. I will be using .060 for the top of my tear and folding 1”
of the edges down over the sides at 90 degrees.
Ther web site is in the links list.
Chuck

[Chuck Craven]

3003 is quite soft and will scratch a little easer than 5005 but both will work very easy.
Chuck

[TD Beej]

I read in someones message about alufiber, I just got some aditional info I requested. In terms of this discussion the important items are .020" and .024" aluminum Thickness (3003 h46 and 5754 h46) total thickness .051" and .055".

Something I found interesting is the weight, .51 lbs/sqft, anyone know how that compares with aluminum of the same total thickness?

Max width 98" and max length 656'

Minimum bending radius 3.95"

I am thinking that an alufiber/.75" insulation & studs/.25" wood sides and top could be very strong and light if constructed properly.

- Beej

[SteveH]

I've been covering my tear lately (did the hatch yesterday) with .050" 5052 aluminum and it is my opinion it is too hard and too thick. It was all I could get in San Antonio. It bends OK for the roof with a little force, but wants to spring back to straight. My hatch is sort of shapped like a Benroy with a tighter bend in the middle transitioning into a straight section, and the aluminum did not want to make that bend. I put it on with contact cement mostly because I needed another hand and that was a way to do it, and the contact cement would not hold it down after the tighter bend.

[Arne]

Not sure, but think 5052 is marine grade... They use it for pontoon boat pontoons.. and it is tough stuff. Normal pontoon thickness is .080, and rugged ....

[Chuck Craven]

There is no marine grade aluminum that I know of. Salt will turn Aluminum back in to Bauxite.
Almost any acid will attack aluminum. Even orange juice will eat it up. That is why they put a plastic coating in aluminum juice cans.
I have used 5052 H52 at .080” for electronic chassis for many years and bend it to 90 L, with a .025” radius. If you are trying to shrink it in a tight radius it will be difficult to do. Try 3003 H14 I have shrunk a 1” lip on a 3” radius with out two much difficulty, by hand. It takes a bit of pounding with a flat former bar but it comes out looking good. Just remember the more you pound on aluminum the harder it gets. You may have to anneal it half way through the bend, to make a good tight sharp lip.
Chuck Craven

[Keith]

Hi Fornesto,

Build one of these and you can bend your hatch about as tight as you want with no crease. <img src="http://www.saber.net/~kings/trailers/roller.jpg">

You can see the 5' wide sheet of alumunim next to the roller. It is the rear roll pan and hatch for one of our Modernistic trailers.

Keith

[Arne]

I tried a search on "marine grade aluminum 5052" and got almost 4,000 hits. Seems most aluminum used on boats is this type.

[David Grason]

Well, I posted my problems with this aluminum on another thread and then I found this thread. Anyway, the 5052 is the ONLY stuff I could find avalaible locally. The supplier said that if I wanted other stuff, I'd have special order it and since they would have to handle it with special arrangements, the price would have to reflect that. Yikes, it was more than double. So I went with this stuff.

Also, it only comes in 10ft lengths. So putting it on my Comet allows me zero room for error. Gotta be careful, but I got it on the sides yesterday. I have NOT however, tried putting it on the top yet. Maybe I need to slam a few beers with a tequila chaser to settle me down because the sides got me pretty cranked up.(I'm one of those guys that mellows out when I've had a few belts.) I haven't thrown ANY tools on this entire build because up until now, it's been very enjoyable and therapuetic. But the aluminum was NO fun at all.

[ceebe]

I just removed the leading edge off of a sailplane wing today. It was formed from .020 2024T3. After being in place for 35 years or so, it still wanted to spring straight. Your .050 5052 will just have to be manhandled (personhandled?) into place. Use straps and patience and you'll be fine.