Liam
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| posted on 4/4/05 at 08:23 PM |
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What type of ali for bending panels??
Hello...
Just wondering what is the ideal grade of ali for making panels with bends??
I have some ali I got free from an old job that was gonna be kick plates for some doors. It is an absolute bitch to bend and really springy. I
thought it must be really thick but it's actually only 1.5mm.
Is it supposed to be this hard? I'm only bending about 600 length of it - I can't see how i'd do a bonnet out of this stuff.
I'm currently trying to do a tranny tunnel removable panel. I have round top tubes and ideally want to have it as a one piece panel bent
round.
Was expecting it to work better. Is there a grade of ali that is nice to bend and doesn't need so much overbending to stop it springing back??
Or should I be going thinner?
Cheers,
Liam
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Surrey Dave
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| posted on 4/4/05 at 08:40 PM |
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I could be wrong but the grade NS4 rings a bell, or "soft" ally..........
But its been a while ,so could be utter ***p....
[Edited on 4/4/05 by Surrey Dave]
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flyingkiwi
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| posted on 4/4/05 at 08:51 PM |
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How about a test on the ali by trying to heat treat a scrap piece? I've heard of people rubbing a bar of soap over the area to bend then
applying heat to the metal using a blow torch until the soap goes black, as far as I can work out it anneals the metal giving it a working time up to
an hour (usually about 30 minutes). Never tried it this way myself but I'm sure there is a thread on here somewhere that tells you all.
either that or some kind person could enlighten me on the correct blow torch method of treating ali.
Hope this helps, and saves you having to buy new metal!
Cheers
Chris
[Edited on 5/4/05 by flyingkiwi]
It Runs!!!!! Bring on the SVA!
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907
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| posted on 4/4/05 at 11:39 PM |
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Hi All,
I had a go at sheeting my scuttle last week. It's rolled over
a box frame then dressed over 90 deg all round.
It came out well. Never done anything like this before.
It's not so much what grade to use, but what grades they stock.
I got it from Aalco in Norwich.
It was composition 1050A
Hardness H4
I think this commonly known as "half hard"
If you use too soft a grade I would think it would dent easily.
HTH
Paul G
[Edited on 4/4/05 by 907]
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thekafer
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| posted on 5/4/05 at 12:22 AM |
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I plan on using 6061-t6 0r 2024-t3 and annealing it with the carborizing flame method. 6061 is much cheaper but not as strong.. my 2 cents
Fletch
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal labotomy...
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flyingkiwi
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| posted on 5/4/05 at 06:08 AM |
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Right, found it.
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=5962
I knew I had read it before, about half way down, post by Steve G.
He's used 2mm ali and using the soap and heat method was able to bend it easily.
Hope this helps as it would save buying loads of extra ali!
Chris
It Runs!!!!! Bring on the SVA!
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 5/4/05 at 07:08 AM |
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I wouldn't want to anneal a whole sheet - it'll end up fit of ripples and bends.
David
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britishtrident
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| posted on 5/4/05 at 07:20 AM |
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Soft aluminium alloy will harden with age anyway.
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steve m
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| posted on 5/4/05 at 05:32 PM |
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sorry,
but bending alui with heat and soap on a locost is utter crap
my car is all alui paneled in 2mm soft sheet and was made by the book technique and lot of meusuring twice cut once
the only panel i am not best pleased with is the rear panel, as it has creased in the bottom 2 corners and one year i will replace it with a better
one
none of the panels are that difficult even the scuttle !!
btw i had never even bent a piece of alui before doing my car!!
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Liam
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| posted on 5/4/05 at 05:36 PM |
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Thanks for the advice dawgs...
I might try the annealing thing and see what happens. Otherwise i'll have to get hold of some soft stuff.
Cheers
liam
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Mix
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| posted on 6/4/05 at 07:52 AM |
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When working even soft aluminium alloy be aware that it will 'work harden' very quickly. Try to form bends in as few stages as
possible.
It is also easier to over bend very slightly and then unbend to fit.
Mick
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Fred W B
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| posted on 6/4/05 at 10:45 AM |
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The below may help, I copied it form somewhere on here I think, so apologies for not crediting the original author
Ally properties
T means it's tempered, O means no temper, so very poor strenght (you can fold a 300x100x3 mm sheet in hands) and W means fresh temper.
W is an metastable condition, it's nearly as mild as O but after a few hours at room t° it becomes T. To keep the W condition you have to store
it at -25°C.
The number after the T letter tells about the parameters of the maturation process.
The four digit number is the ISO spec who tells about the composition. There are several families, the family is showed by the first digit:
2-family (2024 for an example, as known as Dural) are easy to form at O or W condition, not weldable, quite uneasy to form at T condition, but mill is
possible in all conditions. The mechanical properties are very high.
7-family (7075 for an example, often used in mechanical parts) are more easy to mill and a bit less strong, the forming is more difficult but weld is
possible.
6-family are weldable and easy to form but with lower mechanical properties.
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