Aluminum Bar Stock

[Toytaco2]

I've never worked with aluminum before and am wondering if 2" wide x 1/8" 6061 flat aluminum stock can be bent 90 degrees without cracking or breaking. Does it need to be heated or annealed first? Can you get a nice/decent 90 degree corner out of it? I searched but couldn't find anything on this in the forum.

Thanks,
Mike

[Nobody]

I'm pretty sure it'll hafta be 'dead soft' in order to make that 'tight' a bend. I annealed some 1/8"x1 1/4" bar stock & made the brackets for my hatch supports. Not 90* bends but one side about 115* or so did OK. The other side about 65* I wuz afraid to try that 'sharp' so I just worked it into a fairly tight radius. Think the only way to tell for sure is anneal & give it a try

[rainjer]

That temper is you 6061? T6, T4, O or other?

You can for it in any temper. THe problem you will have ins the minimum bend radius. (inside bend)

O condition you can go .120" radius.
T4 you can go .250" radius.
T6 you can go .560" radius.

Jeremy

[Dean_A]

I've bent 1/8" and it worked fine, though you'll have to put some muscle into it. 1/16" bends much easier. You shouldn't have to anneal it, but keep in mind that it will retain a significant radius. You won't get a nice sharp 90 degree angle.

[Toytaco2]

Can't tell what the temper is. I picked it up at the Fastenal store this morning and they only stock one product (shown as - ASTM B221 6061). I guess there would be some radius involved, but still pretty tight. I hope Mike doesn't mind me borrowing his photo since it shows pretty much what I want to do. I'm just using the two inch wide aluminum to replace both the 90 degree piece in the picture and the T-molding at the bottom of my hatch. I would only have the flat bar extend about 1 inch around the side of the TD. So I guess there would be some very small radius involved as opposed to a sharp 90* turn since there would be some clearance involved in order for the bar to clear the side of the TD.

[Dean_A]

I did the same thing with mine. I just used regular old aluminum bar from home depot.

[kennyrayandersen]

What rainjer said.

6061, Forming -- Easily cold worked and formed in the annealed condition. Stamping, bending, spinning, deep drawing are all readily accomplished using standard methods.

I suspect that if you don't buy it in a special heat treat that it is most likely in the T-0 condition. Try bending a small scrap of it. If it bends really easily, with little spring-back (stays bent) then it is probably in the 0 condition. If it tends to not stay in the position that you bent it to then it's wither T4 or T6. Since it will probably be in the annealed condition (T-0), then bend away -- .125 is a pretty small radius though. Most of those charts are for minimum bend radii and sometimes are a tad optimistic. Anyway, you could bend it pretty close to that without screwing it up.

By the way guys, nice latches -- I was trying to think of an alternative to the T-handle and these look pretty good, and I think a fair bit lighter than all of the T-handle hardware.

[Dean_A]

Buy the way guys, nice latches -- I was trying to think of an alternative to the T-handle and these look pretty good, and I think a fair bit lighter than all of the T-handle hardware.

Thanks. I got mine from McMaster. It's stainless steel, adjustable, and it locks. Install was a snap, it's very forgiving, and it snugs the hatch down tight.

[rainjer]

The minimum bend radii I was quoting is from a Boeing specification. YOu would need a brake press & dies to get them to the minimum.

Jeremy

[Toytaco2]

Dean, what you did is exactly the kind of bend I have in mind. I can't tell from your pic - is that 1/8th or 1/16th inch thick aluminum that you used?

In any event, I plan to soften/anneal the stock I'm using just to have the best chance of things coming out right.

[rainjer]

Keep in mind, when you anneal aluminum it says soft. You may be be better off "hot forming" it. That only temporarily softens it for bending. Once cool it is the original temper. It requires you to indirectly heat the material in the are of the bend and not it at a certain temp. foe specific length of time. You then have a window of time to form it. I can get you more info if you want in this process on Monday when I go back to work.

Jeremy

[kennyrayandersen]

The minimum bend radii I was quoting is from a Boeing specification. YOu would need a brake press & dies to get them to the minimum.

Jeremy

Hey! a Lazy B alumni -- been there done that -- once as a direct and once as a shopper. That's why I mentioned the minimum would probably be just a little optimistic for a home-brew.

Some alloys are work hardened and some are heat treated. I believe that the 6061 is heat treated. The easiest way, at least to tell whether it is annealed is to bend a little piece of it like I was saying. To know whether you are in the T4 or the T6 condition you'd probably have to have a Brunel hardness test. Either way -- how much load is going to be on it? Not so much I think -- the stress is trivial even for the annealed condition. Since it isn't strength critical just anneal it (if it's not already annealed) and bend it -- the tear ain't no B-2 Stealth bomber. I don't think you have to worry about strength retention on this one.

[kennyrayandersen]

Thanks. I got mine from McMaster. It's stainless steel, adjustable, and it locks. Install was a snap, it's very forgiving, and it snugs the hatch down tight.

Sold -- I'm taking note

BTW, jut my personal opinion but I think it's these types of finish details that really make the final product look professional. I value my time a lot, so if you can buy it, generally it's not worth making it from scratch; plus, they look sa-weet

[Dean_A]

Dean, what you did is exactly the kind of bend I have in mind. I can't tell from your pic - is that 1/8th or 1/16th inch thick aluminum that you used?

In any event, I plan to soften/anneal the stock I'm using just to have the best chance of things coming out right.

I used 1" x 1/16" from one of the big box stores and just bent it using a vise, some wood blocks and a hammer. I then attached the catch with rivets. In my opinion, 1/16" is more than strong enough for this application. I did not anneal it at all.

[Toytaco2]

Ok, I just gave up on the idea of bending a 90* corner in the 2" aluminum. I raided my stock pile of aluminum stuff off the old pop-up camper and found some dead soft 1 1/4" wide aluminum. Its not quite 1/8" thick, but, its more than 1/16". An easy bend using the rounded edge of a 2x4. I then used some pop rivets and its done. I would rather have had a clean bend in the 2", but, I don't think it would ever have worked very well. Thanks for all the advice and information about working with aluminum. It saved me a lot of aggravation and the cost of another piece of aluminum trim. This thing is just about done (I see it needs to be dusted badly). I should be campable in another couple of weeks.

Mike