Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi All, Been working on my build. Made some good progress. Now I thinking about the aluminun angle for the roof / wall line. Welder at work suggested attaching the stinger of a welder to the waste end and the ground to the other end. Turn amps up slowly and the metal will bend as it heats. Any one try this approach? I'm planning on using a copy of the profile so as to not burn my walls or roof.

Sounds like a way to waste a lot of aluminum angle. Sure the aluminum will get hot but not evenly. My guess is that to get sufficient Amps to soften the aluminum, the resistance will more likely cause it to melt in unexpected places.

reddz, there is only a very SMALL WINDOW between getting the temps right for annealing and melting the AL...annealing is not all that difficult, if you click the search button in the top index and enter annealing in the search window, you will get all the info you need to be successful........
madjack

Thanks guys. I've printed out just about every bit I can find on annealing. The welder offered me the use of his torch after I told him about the AL being 18 feet long. He was thinking a foot or two. Next I'll make mock-ups of my profile so I beat on that and not my walls.

That's one of things I like best about this site. I keep learning from all the folks who share so much. Thanks again.

Unless you plan on some pretty tight radii, annealing and bending on the walls will work and will save you the time of making duplicate curves. I bent all mine on the trailer with the exception of the door parts. Since I was using a 4 inch radius there, I built jigs. But the big curves you can do in the wall.

I didn't anneal any of the aluminum angle while building - doors or roof line. The roof angles on the cubby were such that I was able to bend it gradually, installing the screws as I went along.

For the doors and frames, it was a combination of the above, along with some beating the Hell out of it with a rubber mallet. I also used a regular hammer, beating on a piece of 2x2 held against the angle. That worked well on the door frames. Believe it or not, it came out great (see album). It also gave me an outlet for some pent up frustration!

6063 Aluminum angle is much more malleable than its counterpart 6061. It typically comes in what is known as "architectural". This means it doesn't have any of the rounded corners typically seen on "structural" shapes of metal.
This is doubly desirable since the radii on the inside corners of the structural shape would interfere with fitting the angle flush to the two adjacent surfaces.
Bottom line, buy 6063 architectural angle and you shouldn't have to anneal it to make reasonably small radius bends.

which grade of aluminum is common at home depot and lowes?

I just got back from Lowes. There isn't any info there as to which alloy the aluminum is.
If it were me, I'd get my metal from a local metal supply shop. Most of them have a minimum to buy (usually around $50). I'd make a list and get several things at once to meet the minimum. The metal supply places will be cheaper than Lowes as well. Definitely call a few places, everybody's prices are different.
I haven't ran into too many customer friendly metal vendors; seems to be normal. If they're a jerk, don't worry, its not you.

If you go to a metal supply place for your aluminum, many have "will call" pick up area's where you can buy leftover aluminum from special orders at a reduced price.

Hi All, Got a call back from the metal shop late Friday. It's 6061. So I guess that means heating the stuff. Thanks for the input. I'll let you know how I make out.