Aluminum flat bar bender?

Is there an easy way to bend aluminum flat bar? Like a device, either store-bought or homemade? Something other than a simple vice.

Thank you.

Reply to
John Doe
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Yes.

You are welcome.

Reply to
Bill Marrs

A simple vice? Like eating too much chocolate, or sleeping in late on the weekends? ;-)

Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

He needs to call the "Vise Squad"! ;-)

Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

======== You will get better advice if you can tell us how big the aluminum stock and the type/size/tollerance of the bend/twist, if you can have clamp marks, etc.

Unka' George [George McDuffee] ============ Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), U.S. president. Letter, 17 March 1814.

Reply to
F. George McDuffee

REAL men bend it with their bare hands.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

On Sat, 29 Sep 2007 18:50:16 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm, "SteveB" quickly quoth:

Teeth and finners, pard.

-- Exercise ferments the humors, casts them into their proper channels, throws off redundancies, and helps nature in those secret distributions, without which the body cannot subsist in its vigor, nor the soul act with cheerfulness. -- Joseph Addison, The Spectator, July 12, 1711

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Yes, there are many ways to use bending fixtures on bar stock to bend it at any radius you desire - if you Google around someplace like Harbor Freight Tools you'll find several.

But if you don't heat treat and anneal the aluminum bar stock to "dead soft" condition first before you try bending it I can guarantee failure, because Aluminum will fatigue and crack at the bend. Sometimes with a sharp bend you have to anneal it, bend part way, anneal it again, then finish the bend.

With Aluminum there is very little difference between the heat needed to anneal and to melt. You'll end up with some "Oopsies" and a puddle of Aluminum on the floor where you lingered with the torch just a little bit too long...

Which is why it's usually a whole lot easier and faster to cut your bar stock with a miter joint, and TIG or MIG (Spool-gun) weld the pieces together at the angle you want, than to try bending it. Especially doing it on a production basis.

-->--

Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

Just in case the entire world doesn't know this trick:

When annealing aluminum with a OA torch, turn off the oxygen and smoke the metal with the acetylene flame. Turn oxy back on, gently heat until the carbon burns off. It should be annealed at that point, at least well enough for bending/forming. Keep the torch moving, especially on this stock.

Bill

Reply to
Bill Marrs

No. As long as you control the bend radius, any of the wrought alloys are bendable without annealing. The minimum radius depends on the specific alloy, temper, and thickness.

Fatigue is a result of cyclical stress, not a single event.

There may be some exotic aluminum alloy that strain hardens that quickly, but I've never run into it.

If it is necessary to anneal, the temp should be around 650F; the melting point of common aluminum alloys is in the range 900-1100F. See the post by Bill Marrs for one trick for annealing. (As he implies, we're not talking about a true anneal, but reducing the temper enough to make relatively sharp bends.)

Reply to
Ned Simmons

A 44yr old in shape divorce and her roommate who couldnt sleep because the noise was making her horney?

Thats a simple vice, right?

Gunner, walking gingerly this weekend....

Reply to
Gunner Asch

After a Computer crash and the demise of civilization, it was learned Gunner Asch wrote on Sun, 30 Sep 2007

11:49:10 -0700 in rec.crafts.metalworking :

Ooh, sounds like Gunner needs to exercise more regularly. Keep things which are to be flexible, flexible.

tschus pyotr

-- pyotr filipivich "Quemadmoeum gladuis neminem occidit, occidentis telum est. " Lucius Annaeus Seneca, circa 45 AD (A sword is never a killer, it is a tool in the killer's hands.)

Reply to
pyotr filipivich

Sigh...and the things that are to be stiff...sfiff.

Practice practice practice.

Though Im afraid Im going to have to quit smokeing really soon...I started running out of wind much sooner than I should have. Even with a gal sitting on my face.....shrug

Gunner

Reply to
Gunner Asch

After a Computer crash and the demise of civilization, it was learned Gunner Asch wrote on Sun, 30 Sep 2007

18:59:21 -0700 in rec.crafts.metalworking :

See, what did we tell yo?. Those things are bad for your social life. Like the Sunday School teacher told me "You don't have to smoke and drink to have a good time."

Dang, now I'm wondering if I had stayed on the swim team in school, would the ability to hold my breathe have proven of good use later on? Hmm, the things we'll never know.

-- pyotr filipivich Typos, Grammos and da kind are the result Emmanations of Penumbra Fortesque Consulting: Teaching Pigs to Sing since 1986.

Reply to
pyotr filipivich

On Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:47:59 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm, pyotr filipivich quickly quoth:

I know, and can tell you from experience, it helped! There's nothing nicer in the winter than a nice, smooth, warm set of thigh earmuffs.

LJ, who got his JV letter in the Breast Stroke (actual sport) and taught Braille Anatomy (happily, on the side.)

-- Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. - Blaise Pascal

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Winter? What winter? Haven't you heard about 'Global Warming', where it'll be over 100° F year round?

Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

After a Computer crash and the demise of civilization, it was learned "Michael A. Terrell" wrote on Mon, 01 Oct

2007 11:01:34 -0400 >>

"When the weathers warm and sultry, it then that people's thoughts turn to adultery."

I've always been bemused by those who will say "it is f*sking cold out!" when the temps are way to too cold for comfort.

toodles pyotr

-- pyotr filipivich "Quemadmoeum gladuis neminem occidit, occidentis telum est. " Lucius Annaeus Seneca, circa 45 AD (A sword is never a killer, it is a tool in the killer's hands.)

Reply to
pyotr filipivich

I always laugh at the people in a sweater or zipped up jacket when it drops to 65° F around here, in Central Florida. I've been here almost

20 years, yet I rarely wear a coat, even when it dips to 45° F.
Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

After a Computer crash and the demise of civilization, it was learned Gunner Asch wrote on Sun, 30 Sep 2007

18:59:21 -0700 in rec.crafts.metalworking :

I've got a recording of a song by Tex Ritter (IIRC) "For men who know tobacco, it's women two to one!"

Amen and FM.

pyotr

-- pyotr filipivich "Quemadmoeum gladuis neminem occidit, occidentis telum est. " Lucius Annaeus Seneca, circa 45 AD (A sword is never a killer, it is a tool in the killer's hands.)

Reply to
pyotr filipivich

After a Computer crash and the demise of civilization, it was learned "Michael A. Terrell" wrote on Tue, 02 Oct

2007 10:08:12 -0400 >>

Last year, when it spent several days below freezing, we're standing out side for break (midnight thirty if I recall correctly) and someone make a comment about how it's suppose to drop to 28 degrees "tonight". Forman pulls a six inch scale out of his bib overalls, holds it to his chest (nipple) and looking down says "yeah, that's about right!" Sheesh.

pyotr

-- pyotr filipivich "Quemadmoeum gladuis neminem occidit, occidentis telum est. " Lucius Annaeus Seneca, circa 45 AD (A sword is never a killer, it is a tool in the killer's hands.)

Reply to
pyotr filipivich

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