This processes is counter to pretty much every other video I found on annealing aluminum on TH-cam. Pretty much everywhere says that annealing aluminum is essentially the exact opposite of a kneeling steel and that’s the process that you’re taking. Heating and slow cooling versus heating in quenching.
You are correct. Precipitation hardening of Aluminum is done by heating it and letting it cool slowly. Quenching softens it. Copper behaves in the same way. This video is inaccurate.
Okay, I'm not a metallurgist but I have had extensive conversations with one that oversees the largest jewelry manufacturer in the usa. I work mostly with precious metals and I am an aluminum and steel tig,mig, laser welder. This video is not incorrect. There is more than one way to anneal most metals. Some metals require a very specific procedure to anneal and some are not as demanding. We need to understand that most of the hardening is "work hardened" so if it is heated and allowed to cool it will in fact anneal it. However, maybe the procedure to anneal it to a "dead soft" stage will require quenching but this does not mean air cooling will not produce a softer temper aka annealed state. Think about it, how many of us have smoked a drill bit and turned into soft worthless iron? we didn't quench it did we? No , all we did was heat it really high and that is all it takes. Another example is when we jewelers sharpen our high speed steel hand gravers, if one leaves it in the grinding wheel too long guess what? yep, it gets annealed and it's worthless. I believe air cooling might be better because if one only anneals part of the sheet and quenches it, they may cause a stress crack where annealed part touches non annealed part. Kinda like welding something then quenching it, thats never advised in steel or aluminum that i know of. Thank you for reading, Desy
@@TonyUrryMakesI'm new to metalworking so I don't know anything but the physics I took in high school and college. Question: how do you explain the decrease in stress marks on his slow cooled aluminum, if it should be quenched instead of slow cooled?
I have several large panels of Al6061 t6. I’m glad to see that it is so easy to anneal. I want to experiment with sculpting a lightweight grill for a 72 Alfa Romeo spider, shaped like the elegant original, but with liberties taken to make it much lighter yet still pretty. I normally use it to make things like battery boxed, clamps, inner panels, mounts, etc for weight saving.
At trade school I was taught using a bar of soap. Rub soap over the alloy panel , heat the panel using an oxy goose tip .Once the soap turns brown the panel is annealed enough . Cheers
Hello! Great video. But i am wondering - since you annealed this whole plate - how do you return it's original properties after you bend it as you like? Won't it stay softer now and bend easier even if you don't want to ?
Great question! Yes, it will stay softer. So depending on the application it’s important to keep that in mind when annealing. For example with the Slantnose diffuser we built: we annealed only the areas that needed to be bent so the long straights would remain rigid. Another factor is work hardening; where the annealed area will harden itself as it’s manipulated. Most of what we do I wouldn’t be worried about it softening as it’s generally for external body panels that are worked back close to the original hardness.
“Baking” at 350 F for an hour or two will increase temper back to somewhat near the original hardness. Kitchen oven works for small pieces (brackets for example). Correct to only anneal the area you are going to bend, not the whole panel.
Aluminium will age-harden too. Firms that build aircraft wings will tend store the metal in fridges to maintain the softer condition prior to forming. Or that's what we were told.
So, If I wanted to bend an aluminum clutch lever for a motorcycle, I’d anneal the lever, let it cool and then bend? Or should I bend it while it’s still hot? Thanks for the video
This process is not annealing, it is normalizing. If your intent is to anneal, there has to be controlled cooling. The soak time, rate of cooling and constituents of the alloy have a significant effect on the finished job. There is a considerable amount of free, easily accessible information on the subject, it is worth taking the time to research. What you did was normalising (air cooled). It may not matter on some parts, but could be critical in others. It is important to understand exactly what you are trying to achieve when heating and bending any metal. It may seem like nitpicking to you, but it can lead to confusion and perhaps dangerous and/or costly outcomes. Don't be lazy, do some reading and you are likely to get improved results.
Precipitation hardening of Aluminum is done by heating it and letting it cool slowly. Quenching softens it. Copper behaves in the same way. This video is inaccurate.
Precipitation hardening: - Bring a mixture of two or more components to an elevated temperature, where they mix completely. - Cool the material very quickly to lock in the completely mixed state. -Bring the material to an intermediate temperature, often called the 'aging temperature'. The aging temperature must be high enough that diffusion can occur rapidly, but low enough that one of the components can no longer dissolve the other so that precipitation occurs. - Cool the material to room temperature after the precipitates have grown to the desired size. Since room temperature is too cool for diffusion to occur rapidly, the precipitates will stop growing. This video is accurate. 🫡
@@CrucibleCoachworks I am a Machinist (since the early '90s) and was tempted to explain how this worked. No need now that you took the time to do a bit of maintenance on your own process video. Cheers
@@CrucibleCoachworks I think this is what I'm looking for in my application. Soften to the maximum extent. I have an aluminum valve cover gasket in my bike engine and I always get oil seeping out of that gasket. Slow, but an annoyance. I'm wondering if the manufacture process of these gaskets tend to "work-harden" them before they're even packaged up and sold. Am assuming they're stamped out of AL sheet. And am wondering if they need to be re-softened before actual use? So quench in water? Maximum softness?
![Heat Treating Aluminium [Easy DIY method]](/img/n.gif)
This processes is counter to pretty much every other video I found on annealing aluminum on TH-cam. Pretty much everywhere says that annealing aluminum is essentially the exact opposite of a kneeling steel and that’s the process that you’re taking. Heating and slow cooling versus heating in quenching.
You are correct. Precipitation hardening of Aluminum is done by heating it and letting it cool slowly. Quenching softens it. Copper behaves in the same way. This video is inaccurate.
Okay, I'm not a metallurgist but I have had extensive conversations with one that oversees the largest jewelry manufacturer in the usa. I work mostly with precious metals and I am an aluminum and steel tig,mig, laser welder. This video is not incorrect. There is more than one way to anneal most metals. Some metals require a very specific procedure to anneal and some are not as demanding. We need to understand that most of the hardening is "work hardened" so if it is heated and allowed to cool it will in fact anneal it. However, maybe the procedure to anneal it to a "dead soft" stage will require quenching but this does not mean air cooling will not produce a softer temper aka annealed state. Think about it, how many of us have smoked a drill bit and turned into soft worthless iron? we didn't quench it did we? No , all we did was heat it really high and that is all it takes. Another example is when we jewelers sharpen our high speed steel hand gravers, if one leaves it in the grinding wheel too long guess what? yep, it gets annealed and it's worthless. I believe air cooling might be better because if one only anneals part of the sheet and quenches it, they may cause a stress crack where annealed part touches non annealed part. Kinda like welding something then quenching it, thats never advised in steel or aluminum that i know of. Thank you for reading, Desy
@@TonyUrryMakesI'm new to metalworking so I don't know anything but the physics I took in high school and college.
Question: how do you explain the decrease in stress marks on his slow cooled aluminum, if it should be quenched instead of slow cooled?
I have several large panels of Al6061 t6. I’m glad to see that it is so easy to anneal. I want to experiment with sculpting a lightweight grill for a 72 Alfa Romeo spider, shaped like the elegant original, but with liberties taken to make it much lighter yet still pretty. I normally use it to make things like battery boxed, clamps, inner panels, mounts, etc for weight saving.
At trade school I was taught using a bar of soap. Rub soap over the alloy panel , heat the panel using an oxy goose tip .Once the soap turns brown the panel is annealed enough .
Cheers
Rad! Good to know, thanks for sharing!
Does a heat gun work? Or will it not reach the necessary temperature?
What happens if you don't bend it less than the minimum bend radius like you did in the second Not Annealed example
Does it matter what type of torch you use for this process? Would a map gas torch work?
I actually prefer MAP gas for it!
I use a kerosene wick lamp to soot the metal, and a propane torch to anneal. It does not require a lot of heat to anneal.
Seems likely that maap gas would be perfect.
Hello! Great video. But i am wondering - since you annealed this whole plate - how do you return it's original properties after you bend it as you like? Won't it stay softer now and bend easier even if you don't want to ?
Great question! Yes, it will stay softer. So depending on the application it’s important to keep that in mind when annealing. For example with the Slantnose diffuser we built: we annealed only the areas that needed to be bent so the long straights would remain rigid. Another factor is work hardening; where the annealed area will harden itself as it’s manipulated. Most of what we do I wouldn’t be worried about it softening as it’s generally for external body panels that are worked back close to the original hardness.
@@CrucibleCoachworks Thanks for your answer!
“Baking” at 350 F for an hour or two will increase temper back to somewhat near the original hardness. Kitchen oven works for small pieces (brackets for example). Correct to only anneal the area you are going to bend, not the whole panel.
Aluminium will age-harden too. Firms that build aircraft wings will tend store the metal in fridges to maintain the softer condition prior to forming. Or that's what we were told.
So, If I wanted to bend an aluminum clutch lever for a motorcycle, I’d anneal the lever, let it cool and then bend? Or should I bend it while it’s still hot? Thanks for the video
Let it cool then work it
4:42 😂😂😂
This process is not annealing, it is normalizing. If your intent is to anneal, there has to be controlled cooling. The soak time, rate of cooling and constituents of the alloy have a significant effect on the finished job. There is a considerable amount of free, easily accessible information on the subject, it is worth taking the time to research.
What you did was normalising (air cooled). It may not matter on some parts, but could be critical in others. It is important to understand exactly what you are trying to achieve when heating and bending any metal. It may seem like nitpicking to you, but it can lead to confusion and perhaps dangerous and/or costly outcomes.
Don't be lazy, do some reading and you are likely to get improved results.
I would have bent it while reasonably heated, that goes for any metal
Don't do this with aluminium. It's "hot short" so it's more brittle at temperature.
Most metals must be properly cooled after annealing, before being worked on.
Precipitation hardening of Aluminum is done by heating it and letting it cool slowly. Quenching softens it. Copper behaves in the same way. This video is inaccurate.
Precipitation hardening:
- Bring a mixture of two or more components to an elevated temperature, where they mix completely.
- Cool the material very quickly to lock in the completely mixed state.
-Bring the material to an intermediate temperature, often called the 'aging temperature'. The aging temperature must be high enough that diffusion can occur rapidly, but low enough that one of the components can no longer dissolve the other so that precipitation occurs.
- Cool the material to room temperature after the precipitates have grown to the desired size. Since room temperature is too cool for diffusion to occur rapidly, the precipitates will stop growing.
This video is accurate. 🫡
@@CrucibleCoachworks I am a Machinist (since the early '90s) and was tempted to explain how this worked. No need now that you took the time to do a bit of maintenance on your own process video. Cheers
@@CrucibleCoachworks I think this is what I'm looking for in my application. Soften to the maximum extent. I have an aluminum valve cover gasket in my bike engine and I always get oil seeping out of that gasket. Slow, but an annoyance. I'm wondering if the manufacture process of these gaskets tend to "work-harden" them before they're even packaged up and sold. Am assuming they're stamped out of AL sheet. And am wondering if they need to be re-softened before actual use? So quench in water? Maximum softness?