On Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:31:00 GMT, John Forrest Tomlinson
wrote:

On Wed, 18 Feb 2009 03:06:07 -0500, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:

Oh, boy, we're going to confuse John good, now. Yes, there's a good chance
that what he'd find in that kind of section is 6063. The 1000-series alloys
used for smaller decorative extrusions and trim aren't commonly available in
the form of a 1/4"-thick strap; that's more likely to be among the odds and
ends made for structural architectural use -- window and door frames,
mostly, and railings or pipes made for hand railings and such, which are
primarily 6063. It's possible that's all that might be available in the
rather long pieces he needs for this project.

That is, if he were buying it from a consumer retail source. Since he says
that his choices are 2024-T4 or 6061-T6, he's likely getting it directly or
indirectly from an aluminum service center. So, between those two, I'd go
with 6061.

Thanks everyone.

The 6061 T6 is fairly cheap online (onlinemetals.com), so I might try
that and if it doesn't work I can live with it.

But I might first look around for 6063 or something more easily bent
at a big hardware store .

It's the T6 part that'll getcha - the stuff that is pre-tempered.
Beg, borrow, Garage Sale, steal or (Gasp!) buy an oxy-acetylene torch
rig to heat up the aluminum and take the temper out of it before you
bend, and you'll be good to go. If you don't, you'll see it cracking
at the bend right before your eyes.

You could use a Propane or MAPP torch, but you can't use the soot
and burn trick as easily. Might have to get the Tempstik paint marker
that changes color when it reaches the target temperature - mark the
front side and heat the back side with the torch while watching the
mark for the change.

WARNING - the temperature spread from 'annealed' to 'melted' isn't
very much on aluminum. Too much heat, and you have a shiny puddle.

The 'B' Acetylene and 50 CF Oxygen cylinders are the smallest
practical size for around the home shop, when you balance purchase
price and refill price with how much work they will do on a fill.

Forget the little "tote torches" that take the 10 cubic foot Oxygen
and 'MC' Acetylene. They work for brazing up refrigeration lines, but
the bottles are too small to do any Real Work - you can't use large
tips because there is a withdrawal rate limit on the Acetylene bottle
of 1/7 capacity per hour or you start sucking out the Acetone. And
just when the work starts getting warm, the tanks go empty.

-- Bruce --