Help bending 3/4" aluminum pipe

I used to bend aluminum pipe, about 1 1/2" OD and .125" wall for part of a job using a cheap pipe bender, but I remember the engineer telling me that they had to order softer aluminum than the 6061-T6 that we normally used, because the harder stuff wouldn't bend. My guess would be that you're going to have a difficult-to-impossible time getting a good bend out of that material. Someone here might know better than I.

Cheers, Walt

See if you can buy 6063 or at least a T4 hardness 6061 instead of T6.

Yes you can bend the T6 if you have a hydraulic pipe bender.

If it doesn't work (as Ernie and WJ say, T6 doesn't like it), you can try annealing it first. Heat the area until a pine board leaves a streak of char which quickly evaporates (or use a sooty flame (like oxy-starved acetylene) to blacken it before heating). Don't get it much hotter or it'll melt!

Tim

-- "That's for the courts to decide." - Homer Simpson Website @

6061-T6 pipe has about 10% elogation in 2" Use the neutral axis down the center and you can figure the various combinations of degree of bend and bend radius that will work. A standard pipe bender with a 4" radius die calculates out at 12% minimum. Any bend (on that radius) over about 20 degrees goes over the material specs and cracks wide open. You results will vary since the bending action may or may not be focused based on your bend die setup.

Even more fun is the spring back (memory). I have seen commercial draw benders that needed to go 6 degrees over to get the desired bend. But this is EXTREMELY dependent on the age of the material. T6 is an age hardening factor. Stuff that has been on the shelf for a couple of years is much harder than new material. Net: no consistency between material lots, or even between bends on the same stick.

I th> Is it possible to bend with a hickey and if so, what kind? Radius isn't