6061 T6

Well, 6061 is tempered to T6 condition by heating it to about 990 degrees F to get a supersaturated solution, rapidly quenching to keep the alloys in this supersaturated solution as the metal solidifies, and then reheating to around 320 degrees F for a certain time to precipitate out some out the alloy to get the desired mechanical properties. The later process is referred to as artificial aging. So, you would further artificially age the material. As you age 6061, it will get harder and stronger. However, if you overage it, it will start to get softer and weaker. Aging is dependent on time and temperature. My guess is the time required required to get the superglue to release won't have much effect on the part, maybe make it a little harder and stronger.

Sounds like a theory I can live with. Thanks.

Ken.

6061-T6 has a temp/time/strength curve that is fine at 500 degrees, really drops into the basement at 700 degrees. It will drop to 15% of original strength if you exceed the temps.

There is a 1700 page government .pdf "Aerospace Materials Handbook" that shows all the tables. d> How hot can this material get before the 'temper' gets messed up?

Thanks Roy.

Something to consider Ken is the size of the part that you are looking to fixture. If the adhesive needs 500F to begin to release, you are going to have to input a considerable amount of heat into the part. You may find that you have to really heat the part a lot longer than you want to so that the glue will begining to let go.

Craig C. snipped-for-privacy@ev1.net

The part is about 2 cubic inches - it isn't critical. Failure will not put anyone/thing at risk. A change in tempering could possibly cause problems in subsequent machining operations.

Ken.

If it goes all the way through it's annealing change, it gets real gummy to machine. It would be real tough to get threads to look nice.

The offical title of the reference book I use is "METALLIC MATERIALS AND ELEMENTS FOR AEROSPACE VEHICLE STRUCTURES" MIL-HDBK-5J

For 6061-T6, Page 3-275 (page 577 of the .pdf versi> snipped-for-privacy@tigerbyte.net wrote:

Thanks very much for your research and advice Roy. I abandoned the 'super glue' route in favour of some creative clamping. Job is done and all is right in my world.

Regards. Ken.

RoyJ wrote: