Bending Aluminum Sheet With Heat

Miserable to bend cracking is very common and cold bending will always weaken the metal.

Bending aluminum sheet with heat.

Heavy gauge aluminum bars or rods must be heat bent using an acetylene torch and vice. A bending brake will be best suited for shaping flat square sheets of light gauge aluminum. Clinton aluminum offers a variety of products each covering a wide range of applications and processes. Steve benson is a member and former chair of the precision sheet metal technology.

Highly formable and one of the best kinds of aluminum to bend. This is a highly technical and potentially dangerous process best left to a professional metalworker. Place the fracture line over the edge of a table and bend the overhang slightly downwards. With the aid of a straight edge and a sharp knife score both sides of the aluminium sheet.

From non heat treatable 3003 and 5052 to the heat treatable 2024 6061 and 7075 you have many options from which to choose. In the event that you are bending a thick piece of sheet metal you can apply heat from a blowtorch along the seam of your bend line to facilitate your bend. Sheet aluminium can be cut without the need for a guillotine or tin snips which tend to deform the metal. This weakens the aluminium and creates a fracture line.

But the question remains the same which alloy is the best product for bending. Heat the part uniformly until the black soot goes away. When bending aluminum know that the smaller your inside bend radius the larger the chance that cracking will occur in the part.