"Mach 1" wrote in message
...
I have messed with radio control models for years
and I have worked in
machine shops for over 30 years so Im familiar
with aluminum 6061 T6.

Several years back I needed a landing gear for a
plane and I knew that
making it outta the T6 that if I put my bends in
it that it want hold
that shape. It will flatten back out if you
press on it.

But I found a guy in SC that took my bent T6
piece and he did
something to make it like a car spring. It not
only held its shape
when loaded it would go back to its original
shape. I mean it was
strong.

Now what did he do? Did he just raise the T
factor higher?
Was it a chemical process or just a way of doing
it in a oven?

Dennis


I think the process is called "precipitation
hardening"or "age hardening". I recall it vaguely
from my metallurgy 101 classes of about 40 years
ago. The process involves heating to dissolve some
sort of alloying material, then sudden cooling.
The material stays machineable if kept cold. After
machining , it is "aged" at a higher
temperature,and the alloying material precipitates
at the grain boundaries,forming a much tougher and
harder material.

On the other hand, I may have got it all wrong.
Hell, some days I can't even remember what I had
for breakfast!