Great job on the roof rack. Doing the same here. The way I anneal aluminum is to use a black sharpie and scribble in the area you want to anneal plus and inch or so outside the area, when the marks disappear from heat you are really close. This lets you know you have heated the tubing uniformly. Then if you look at the edge of the map gas flame on the aluminum, as soon as you see the flame edges get red, stop. Let cool and your done. I bend on a tighter radius, 2D with a mandrel so it needs to be as close to 600 as possible.
A 600 degree tempil stick is the more pro way to go (over soot) to see if you are at temp, they seem dry and chalky, but melt when when you hit the mark. As others below said, sharpie works, and soot. One I didn't see in the list was ivory soap, rub some on, and it will turn black when you hit the mark - it is my favorite since sharpie and soot never fully burn off (leaving you guessing) and with the tempil stick you have to keep taking the heat off to test, which slows the process. Aluminum is tricky because it's the same color at melting as it is at room temp. If anyone at tempil reads this, please reverse the process for pens to work like Ivory soap?
Also very impressive on building your own bender man. Didn’t see a “bullet” setup which kinda confused me at first then noticed your radius was 6” with annealed 6061. Still, even tho, great “non-wrinkleage”
Have you tried to get aluminum fresh from the mill, less than 2 weeks old, we use to have a guy come in that made dock ladders, and that is what he did to make it work for him under 2 weeks it is still pliable, after 2 weeks it begins to harden from the silicone.
Not really an option unless you have a mill close by or have a metal supplier that is willing to let you know of fresh dates codes when they get orders in. But that is good info that could work for some! Thanks for sharing.
Guestion...I fly a paramotor trike and I've been working to build my own. If you anneal the metal to bend it do you have to worry about it bending after it's built? Or should that not be a problem? Do I need to heat treat it to give the strength back? Just wondering
I found that over time it gains some of it’s strength back. After a year of sitting on a rack, I tried to bend a piece previously annealed. To my surprise it only bent about 15 degrees before it snapped. I wouldn’t worry much about that. I’ve welded quite a few paramotor frames over the years. Welding them also removes the hardening in that area. Always inspect your frame before/after flight for cracks.
Where about did you purchase the die for the bender. Thinking about building one but would like to see what dies are available first. Thanks. Also. Great video!!
some conduit benders have rollers or follow thru bars i wonder if that helps avoid cracking. still very interesting, can you fill it with sand to prevent cracking or krinkling? Can you do a destuction test vid? aluminum IMC vs 6061
Hi great vid and very helpful, if You were to get 6060 t5 aluminium would that bend no problem without annealing it? Or would that also need to be annealed? Thanks
I want to get some aluminum tubing from the hardware store to bend into a geodesic (dome shaped) greenhouse frame. Is there a way to fo this with a torch ? I don't have a machine lol
90 minutes should be fine. I let mine completely cool before I bent. Maybe even a day or two. I tried a piece that was sitting over a year and it had re-hardened.
Possibly, but you would have to try. The other alternative is 6063 t-52 but it only comes in pipe size. It bends with no issues unless you have a Baleigh RDB-250 bender, their dies just don't like soft material and will rip it.
@@Regalmetalworks thanks for the reply. I will look into 6063 T52, but since I’m trying to roll it and not bend it, I haven’t found a pipe roller. Only tube rollers.
I’m going to be doing a similar project soon. I don’t have an oven so I am thinking I’ll try the map gas route. I only have 4 bends to make. Do you think I’ll be ok as long as I take my time with the map gas?
You're welcome. It depends on how hot you can get t he oven. An hour at 400 worked for me. If you cant get it that hot, maybe a but longer. Bend it as soon as you can. Over time it will re-harden. I tried bending a piece I heated a year later and it snapped after 10 degreea of bend.
All depends what it's hardened state is. Anything under T4 is able to be bent without annealing first. The most commonly available is 6061 T6, so most of the time that is what you are dealing with. I haven't seen any 6063 in tubing, only 6061, 6063 is normally available in Pipe, so schedule 40 or 80.
we build and bend 6063 for railings and yes it's pipe sch 40 we use up to 2" pipe just thought I'd mention it for any project that requires bending. I've found 6061 not suitable for bending thanks Doug@@Regalmetalworks
@@tallchicago1 6063 is definitely a softer material don't know what the temper is but this is what we use for railings and tuna towers in mill finish and anodized , marine applications .
