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Old 12-30-2013, 12:08 PM
forge forge is offline
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Default Beginners annealing aluminium question

a lot of the instructional DVD's I have show annealing process for sheet aluminium with an oxy/acet set up, since I don't own this I have a couple of questions... would something like straight mapp gas do the job?

Also, how essential is annealing - If I were to say make a cafe racer seat cowl
like this, could I achieve the same result without annealing?

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Old 12-30-2013, 12:11 PM
Ken Hosford Ken Hosford is offline
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If working in 3003 h14 that seat could be made without annealing
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Old 12-30-2013, 12:17 PM
forge forge is offline
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Thanks Ken. I ordered some sheets from Frost in the UK which is "EN485 1050 H14 Half-Hard grade" according to the website. However, I am at a complete loss as to what all the numbers and identifiers mean with sheet metal. Would the sheets I have ordered be insufficient for shaping without annealing?
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Old 12-30-2013, 01:08 PM
crystallographic crystallographic is offline
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Originally Posted by forge View Post
Thanks Ken. I ordered some sheets from Frost in the UK which is "EN485 1050 H14 Half-Hard grade" according to the website. However, I am at a complete loss as to what all the numbers and identifiers mean with sheet metal. Would the sheets I have ordered be insufficient for shaping without annealing?
I'm pretty sure your 1050 will go far enough to make your part without any annealing. Don't fret about the numbers too much. 1000 series aluminum is all very workable, without annealing. If it does happen to crack at the edge, you probably will need to trim some off, anyway - so you can get rid of two problems with one snip.
; - }
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Old 12-30-2013, 01:32 PM
Phil Minton Phil Minton is offline
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Hi Connor,

It's easy to anneal ally using a propane torch. First get yourself a thin piece of softwood (e.g. lolly stick) then bring the metal up to temperature by moving the flame constantly over the area to be annealed.
Repeatedly test the ally by scribbling on it with the stick (away from the flame) and when it carbonises on touching the ally leaving a dark line, the metal has reached sufficient temperature to be annealed and will be a lot easier to work with until it work hardens again. Try it on a test piece first to get the technique and also avoid leaving the flame in one place for too long or you'll melt through the ally. Hope this helps
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Old 12-30-2013, 02:25 PM
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Frank.de.Kleuver Frank.de.Kleuver is offline
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Before I had my OA setup I used a big candle to blacken the panel with sud and then use a big gas torch to anneal. It's slower then OA but works pretty good. I think that a magic marker (Edding) also works.

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Old 12-30-2013, 03:13 PM
hotrodder hotrodder is offline
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Yep, permanent marker is another method that works. Colour in the area to anneal and the ink burns off at approx the right temp justs like acetylene soot. Soap/candles work like a match/lolly stick and char/leave a dark mark at around the right temp

Connor, a 2 x 1 metre sheet of 1.5mm 1050-h14 is ~ £25 - 30 + VAT (prices move up and down a little regularly) from a proper aluminium stockholder so much cheaper overall than buying small pieces from Frost etc. If you don't have the means to transport something that size then http://www.aluminiumwarehouse.co.uk/ have a cut to size service which is still an expensive way of buying but appears to a bit cheaper than Frost although that'd depend on carriage. More importantly you aren't limited to 600 x 900mm

As said 1050-h14 can be stretched/shrunk a bunch before needing to anneal but it if you're new to metalshaping then it's worth annealing any areas that'll be worked a lot as it makes life easier/faster overall- annealed 1050 is like butter to work.

1050-h14 is 99.5% commercially pure aluminium which is cold worked to 'half hard'
1xxx is commercially pure ally (googling aluminium alloy grades will get a complete list for 2xxx, 3xxx series etc and more indepth stuff)
H-14 is the temper description, explained in more depth here http://aluminium.matter.org.uk/aluselect/tempers.htm
3003 aluminium doesn't exist in the UK, we have 3103 which is effectively the same thing but it's less commonly stocked and when it is generally only in 2500 x 1250mm
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Old 12-30-2013, 06:02 PM
crystallographic crystallographic is offline
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Originally Posted by hotrodder View Post
Yep, permanent marker is another method that works. Colour in the area to anneal and the ink burns off at approx the right temp justs like acetylene soot. Soap/candles work like a match/lolly stick and char/leave a dark mark at around the right temp

Connor, a 2 x 1 metre sheet of 1.5mm 1050-h14 is ~ £25 - 30 + VAT (prices move up and down a little regularly) from a proper aluminium stockholder so much cheaper overall than buying small pieces from Frost etc. If you don't have the means to transport something that size then http://www.aluminiumwarehouse.co.uk/ have a cut to size service which is still an expensive way of buying but appears to a bit cheaper than Frost although that'd depend on carriage. More importantly you aren't limited to 600 x 900mm

As said 1050-h14 can be stretched/shrunk a bunch before needing to anneal but it if you're new to metalshaping then it's worth annealing any areas that'll be worked a lot as it makes life easier/faster overall- annealed 1050 is like butter to work.

1050-h14 is 99.5% commercially pure aluminium which is cold worked to 'half hard'
1xxx is commercially pure ally (googling aluminium alloy grades will get a complete list for 2xxx, 3xxx series etc and more indepth stuff)
H-14 is the temper description, explained in more depth here http://aluminium.matter.org.uk/aluselect/tempers.htm
3003 aluminium doesn't exist in the UK, we have 3103 which is effectively the same thing but it's less commonly stocked and when it is generally only in 2500 x 1250mm
yup, and the 3103 anneals a bit hotter than the 1050, by another 37.78C, in fact - but that is completely aside the point of using the 1050, isn't it?
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Old 12-30-2013, 06:23 PM
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Thanks a lot Guys. Some fantastic suggestions here. A great help. it's much appreciated. I need to find a way of contributing something to the site, I feel bad that I don't have any knowledge to offer yet.
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