Bending Aluminum Sheet With Heat

A bending brake will be best suited for shaping flat square sheets of light gauge aluminum.

Bending aluminum sheet with heat.

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. Place the fracture line over the edge of a table and bend the overhang slightly downwards. Highly formable and one of the best kinds of aluminum to bend. 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. Sheet aluminium can be cut without the need for a guillotine or tin snips which tend to deform the metal. Proper bending can be done with annealing the aluminum first although it s not an ideal candidate for formed parts. But the question remains the same which alloy is the best product for bending.

Miserable to bend cracking is very common and cold bending will always weaken the metal. This should anneal the 6061 t6 or other t into a t 0 material. With the aid of a straight edge and a sharp knife score both sides of the aluminium sheet. This is a highly technical and potentially dangerous process best left to a professional metalworker.

When bending aluminum know that the smaller your inside bend radius the larger the chance that cracking will occur in the part. This weakens the aluminium and creates a fracture line. Keep in mind that many kinds of fabricated metal have extremely high melting points and applying your torch injudiciously could cause damage or do harm to your sheet metal or equipment.