Best Aluminum For Sheet Metal Bending

Material bend radii and minimum bend size charts please note.

Best aluminum for sheet metal bending.

Bending sheet metal by hand is a manageable task if the piece of sheet metal is small and thin enough to handle. We re having trouble bending 6061 t6 aluminum without cracking and i was wondering if you could give us a few pointers. Aluminium alloy 6063 is a good choice for example while 6082 is more difficult. From a bending perspective it s always best to bend these parts in an annealed state and then temper them to the correct condition.

Proper bending can be done with annealing the aluminum first although it s not an ideal candidate for formed parts. The best series for forming and thus for bending are the alloy series 3xxx 5xxx and in some cases 6xxx. 1 bending sheet aluminum with a bending brake 2 shaping small pieces with an arbor press 3 tooling aluminum by hand. The top 3 aluminum alloys for being are the 3003 which has medium strength and the best cold workability the 5052 which is the highest strength alloy of the more common non heat treatable grades and the 6061 which is one of the more.

The best aluminum alloys for bending come down to series 3xxx and series 5xxx and sometimes series 6xxx. Abn sheet metal hand seamer 3 inch straight jaw manual metal bender tool sheet metal bending pliers flattening tool 4 5 out of 5 stars 137 27 89 27. Depending on the form you re working with. From non heat treatable 3003 and 5052 to the heat treatable 2024 6061 and 7075 you have many options from which to choose.

The bend radius you select may not be available if the geometry of the part will not allow us to bend with the specific tooling required to achieve that radius. Most frequently expensive sheet metal bending tools called brakes are used to bend sheet metal but you can also complete this task without one. Clinton aluminum offers a variety of products each covering a wide range of applications and processes. Use the minimum bend dimension values in the charts below for your minimum closeness of cutout to a bend.

6061 t6 aluminum is tempered and notorious for not bending easily. When bending large sheets your best bet is to use a metal bending brake or to improvise one using a sturdy tabletop and a length of scrap wood. I would avoid using alloys in the 2xxx and 7xxx families because they are so strong and therefore difficult to form. For small or irregularly shaped.