I experiment with annealing aluminum in order to soften it for easier bending. These tests will help me to design better mechanical systems for future projects.
If you are making a small bracket for which strength is not an issue, okay. I would add some cautionary advice however: 1.Various grades and alloys of aluminum can have vastly different processing temperatures. 2. Heating just the area you will bend may soften that area but can result in changing the temper of the remainder of the part. 3. Annealing aluminum is generally used to remove residual stress from cold working, relieving work hardened areas. 4. To allow safe forming of raw stock it should be solution heat treated; that means heating the entire part uniformly to a temperature where the alloying metals go into a "solid solution", typically between 850°F and 1050°F depending upon the alloy. (For details check AMS-2770, 2771, and 2772 process specifications) 5. Heating is followed by a soak time at temperature to allow the alloying metals to dissolve in the aluminum matrix. (again refer to AMS 2770,1,2) This time may be as much as 15 minutes, more depending upon the alloy. 6. For small or thin parts (less than 0.090) you have a maximum of 5 seconds between removal from heat and full immersion in the quenchant. 7. Some alloys age-harden naturally (alloying materials come back out of solution to form grains), a few as fast as within 96 hours). 8. After cold working, the entire part should be solution treated again and then precipitation hardened (aged) to a temperature between 350°F and 500°F depending upon the alloy and the desired temper. 9. Failure to consider the effect of the heating on the entire part can result in stress failures in places you did not expect them. 10. To insure the part has reached an appropriate temperature using the soot as an indicator you might consider heating the side away from the soot so that your lean flame does not oxidize the soot prior to the metal being at the proper temperature. All of the above is offered as a caution. Parts that will be subjected to stress and where personal safety is an issue should be processionally heat treated after your forming process, and dye checked for stress cracks. None of the above is to suggest that I have never bent aluminum tha way you have showed, I have. Just keep your use in mind.
I'm going to be making an aluminum bracket that uses the same bolts that hold the backrest to the backrest bracket or mount on our Harley-Davidson and I want the aluminum bracket (It's going to be an American flag mount/bracket) to bend into kind of a U shape but with tighter bends in it then a U, closer to the 90° bends he put in his bracket in this video although they don't necessarily have to be that tight of a bend. Anyway, the bottom of the U will be more of a flat platform with a hole drilled into it so that I can use the seat bolt in the back to act as a base and also just be another point to hold the bracket in place except most of the hold and weight would be carried by the the bolts that hold the backrest on, the seat bolt will be more or less just to keep it centered and keep the bracket with a flag mounted on it from moving around side to side etc etc but not really for the main strength of it. I wish I could draw a picture for you so that you could better understand what I'm trying to say, lol, but my question is should I just cut the bracket, drill it and bend it cold and then heat treat it or should I heat treat it first and then cut, drill and bend?
Today, I tried bending 6mm plate aluminium for a rally car sump guard. I cut half way through the full length and rested my trailer and rally car weight on the bend with wooden blocks either side thinking it would bend. Not a chance, I jumped on it, hoping it would bend, then it snapped. Lesson learnt. Give it to the professionals . Good video, thanks.
Nice job Sir! And thank you for the demo. I'm bending some Al. for the landing gear of my RC plane. From a retired Firefighter/ Medic, you might want to keep open flames away from flammable gases, such as you torch; I've had those leak, and you could be in for an unpleasant experience. Best wishes!
Hey there! Great job!. you can prevent vice marks by making some aluminum guards for your vice. I've made for my vice and although they are crude, they work great! Cheers, Tony
You can harden the pieces by simply leaving them alone for a while at room temp. They will reach their full strength after latest 4 days. You can speed up the process by placing them on heater or in an oven at low temp. This will help with diffusion.
Dude! Soft jaws in the vice, even just a couple of bits of timber (edit: Okay, you got it later in the vid). Nice trick with the candle soot, forgotten that one, thanks for the reminder.
For stronger parts don’t go for tight bends they induce much more stress cracking. Look for proper radius bend chart. It varies from 1-5 x thickness of the material depending on alloy and thickness. Good job.
wow~ ! thanks so much! I had to figure out how to bend back a few outboard motor pans from some numbskulls transporting them on their sides. this prevents the cowls from being able to snap on. I tried this (attached to the motor) and the (really) thick aluminum actually bent without snapping! I quenched it with a garden hose (cold well water) and used vice grips then tree wedges to bend it out... back into position. Would this work if I hadn't removed the paint?
Great stuff! Can't wait to see how everything unfolds... It boggles my mind that we don't use the funds that we send to other countries (without our consent) to get more inventors and testers... imagine how Utopic our society would be if we didn't have all that issues, ranging from proper housing, fresh fruits, clean water, clean air, more reliable transportations, an educational system that shares the unique experiences - finding one's passion/dream... When we have all these wars and political bs... corporations/entities telling what is okay by lobbying/backdoor deals, while we lose everything... What's the purpose of starting at a huge negative? When we have soo much potential, if given the right environments to flourish and bring more Blissful moments to oneself and others, equally...
![How to Harden Aluminum Casts [ 4 Methods ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Me12deMS2PM/mqdefault.jpg)
If you are making a small bracket for which strength is not an issue, okay. I would add some cautionary advice however:
1.Various grades and alloys of aluminum can have vastly different processing temperatures.
2. Heating just the area you will bend may soften that area but can result in changing the temper of the remainder of the part.
3. Annealing aluminum is generally used to remove residual stress from cold working, relieving work hardened areas.
4. To allow safe forming of raw stock it should be solution heat treated; that means heating the entire part uniformly to a temperature where the alloying metals go into a "solid solution", typically between 850°F and 1050°F depending upon the alloy. (For details check AMS-2770, 2771, and 2772 process specifications)
5. Heating is followed by a soak time at temperature to allow the alloying metals to dissolve in the aluminum matrix. (again refer to AMS 2770,1,2) This time may be as much as 15 minutes, more depending upon the alloy.
6. For small or thin parts (less than 0.090) you have a maximum of 5 seconds between removal from heat and full immersion in the quenchant.
7. Some alloys age-harden naturally (alloying materials come back out of solution to form grains), a few as fast as within 96 hours).
8. After cold working, the entire part should be solution treated again and then precipitation hardened (aged) to a temperature between 350°F and 500°F depending upon the alloy and the desired temper.
9. Failure to consider the effect of the heating on the entire part can result in stress failures in places you did not expect them.
10. To insure the part has reached an appropriate temperature using the soot as an indicator you might consider heating the side away from the soot so that your lean flame does not oxidize the soot prior to the metal being at the proper temperature.
All of the above is offered as a caution. Parts that will be subjected to stress and where personal safety is an issue should be processionally heat treated after your forming process, and dye checked for stress cracks.
None of the above is to suggest that I have never bent aluminum tha way you have showed, I have. Just keep your use in mind.
I'm going to be making an aluminum bracket that uses the same bolts that hold the backrest to the backrest bracket or mount on our Harley-Davidson and I want the aluminum bracket (It's going to be an American flag mount/bracket) to bend into kind of a U shape but with tighter bends in it then a U, closer to the 90° bends he put in his bracket in this video although they don't necessarily have to be that tight of a bend. Anyway, the bottom of the U will be more of a flat platform with a hole drilled into it so that I can use the seat bolt in the back to act as a base and also just be another point to hold the bracket in place except most of the hold and weight would be carried by the the bolts that hold the backrest on, the seat bolt will be more or less just to keep it centered and keep the bracket with a flag mounted on it from moving around side to side etc etc but not really for the main strength of it. I wish I could draw a picture for you so that you could better understand what I'm trying to say, lol, but my question is should I just cut the bracket, drill it and bend it cold and then heat treat it or should I heat treat it first and then cut, drill and bend?
thanks for the helpful info
Today, I tried bending 6mm plate aluminium for a rally car sump guard. I cut half way through the full length and rested my trailer and rally car weight on the bend with wooden blocks either side thinking it would bend. Not a chance, I jumped on it, hoping it would bend, then it snapped. Lesson learnt. Give it to the professionals . Good video, thanks.
Nice job Sir! And thank you for the demo. I'm bending some Al. for the landing gear of my RC plane. From a retired Firefighter/ Medic, you might want to keep open flames away from flammable gases, such as you torch; I've had those leak, and you could be in for an unpleasant experience. Best wishes!
Hey there! Great job!. you can prevent vice marks by making some aluminum guards for your vice. I've made for my vice and although they are crude, they work great! Cheers, Tony
Nice work and love the custom mindset. Some brass vice guards will help protect the parts from bite marks.
Great video! Keep up the good work!
You can harden the pieces by simply leaving them alone for a while at room temp. They will reach their full strength after latest 4 days.
You can speed up the process by placing them on heater or in an oven at low temp. This will help with diffusion.
Thank you so much for the advice. As far as the vice marks that you get on your aluminum I've heard that leather works very well for that
Dude! Soft jaws in the vice, even just a couple of bits of timber (edit: Okay, you got it later in the vid). Nice trick with the candle soot, forgotten that one, thanks for the reminder.
For stronger parts don’t go for tight bends they induce much more stress cracking. Look for proper radius bend chart. It varies from 1-5 x thickness of the material depending on alloy and thickness. Good job.
This happened to me today, followed by much profanity.
Hi handsome great tip. ❤I will definitely use this tip for my custom truck camper. I going to build a RV camper shell out of aluminum.
Good video Levi !
Great video
Nice. Thanks. And thanks to all the commenters. Now I know...
Thank you 🔥🔥🔥 new subscriber
since Annealing softens is there a way to re harden by heating and cooling slowly?
Good job
Nice video, thanks. In your opinion what is the max thickness in mm that you can bend with this method ? Can you bend 5 mm aluminium piece ? Thanks
Hey Levi, any progress on the electric skateboard you were building? I'm working on something similar and would love to see your progress.
Thanks!
thanks so much!!
good info
wow~ ! thanks so much! I had to figure out how to bend back a few outboard motor pans from some numbskulls transporting them on their sides. this prevents the cowls from being able to snap on. I tried this (attached to the motor) and the (really) thick aluminum actually bent without snapping! I quenched it with a garden hose (cold well water) and used vice grips then tree wedges to bend it out... back into position. Would this work if I hadn't removed the paint?
Use a piece of aluminium on top or use a nylon hammer not a steel hammer!
Use soft jaws in your vice!!! 👍
Supered I am benefitted.
Would it make sense to anneal both surfaces (front and back)?
Have you tried using bending dies?
Great stuff! Can't wait to see how everything unfolds...
It boggles my mind that we don't use the funds that we send to other countries (without our consent) to get more inventors and testers... imagine how Utopic our society would be if we didn't have all that issues, ranging from proper housing, fresh fruits, clean water, clean air, more reliable transportations, an educational system that shares the unique experiences - finding one's passion/dream...
When we have all these wars and political bs... corporations/entities telling what is okay by lobbying/backdoor deals, while we lose everything...
What's the purpose of starting at a huge negative? When we have soo much potential, if given the right environments to flourish and bring more Blissful moments to oneself and others, equally...
Commenting for CZcams algorithm
Thank you for the hints.🐜billy
Allright!! University of okoboji.