Aluminum Body Damage Repair

[Gojeep]

I had no idea that there was a smell difference between alloys!

[axelkloehn]

Me neither, you got to have a lot of experience of smelling the different alloys I think, predestinated for a tv show to show this skill

[AllyBill]

Nice job! An elegant technique I've used on that sort of repair is to stretch the lumps and bumps into one smooth shape an area at a time then heat-shrink it a little undersize before sculpting it back to height/shape with hammer and dolly. You get exactly the shape you wanted and it stress relieves the part at the same time.

Will

[crystallographic]

Originally Posted by AllyBill

Nice job! An elegant technique I've used on that sort of repair is to stretch the lumps and bumps into one smooth shape an area at a time then heat-shrink it a little undersize before sculpting it back to height/shape with hammer and dolly. You get exactly the shape you wanted and it stress relieves the part at the same time.

Will

Thanks Will.
Thanks Peter.
Martin, re-wheeling does smooth the wrinkles but also raises more shape, measurably. I've tried many straightening methods and I use methods that shrink and hold size, so I can stretch to fit if needed. (Like AllyBill does)
Marcus, yes it amazes me every time - just like this steel chromed prop spinner I just "un-whacked" - Beech Staggerwing, and it could be polished out it is so smooth (new method).
Brent, I heat up and do a 4 inch square because that is what I can control smoothly. And thanks. Hood took me 7.35 hours from wavy to filed out.
Scott, Yes it works on .032, .040, .050, and .063. Yes I knock down the highs with hammer, spoon or file handle - whatever is handy before the heat drops. I stay pretty focused on the job until it is done - even the flies can get annealed if they land for too long (cannot see the blue flame envelope).
William, thank you. Glad you enjoyed the dissertation.
Axel, There comes a time when you can sniff a chocolate and tell what it is. Same for aluminum alloys. Helps to also have squares of them tucked away to compare with ....

[Oldnek]

Originally Posted by Gojeep

I had no idea that there was a smell difference between alloys!

My alloys always smell the same, Like burnt paint...................
When it melts all over the floor.

[keith]

What a great thread. I have no sheet aluminum expierence, so this very interesting and very informative. Never entered my mind about smell.

Thanks again for yet another great post.

[metalman sweden]

Very nice information and what a great job by both of you!
Thanks for sharing your skills!

[RockHillWill]

Following this thread closely. Never thought of aluminum smelling differently, will see if I can pick upon that. Thanks for sharing.

BTW, Thank you VERY much for your prompt and nicely done repair to the Mecco torch. I apologize for being tardy in my response.

[crystallographic]

Originally Posted by RockHillWill

Following this thread closely. Never thought of aluminum smelling differently, will see if I can pick upon that. Thanks for sharing.

BTW, Thank you VERY much for your prompt and nicely done repair to the Mecco torch. I apologize for being tardy in my response.

Hi Will,
It's not really a "smell" as such, but we use the "scratch and sniff" terminology because you are inspecting a coupon of the material so closely.
Highly recommended is having a set of 4X4 coupons of different alloys about .050 thick as comparison.

What you have to sniff out:
One, the surface reflection for color (silver, bluish, greenish, gray, etc from the Cu, Mg, Mn, Si +++ content).
Two, the way it bends with finger/thumb leverage
Three, the sound it makes when dropped on a steel plate.
Four, heating a corner to see what that looks like just before it melts.

Five, heating while bend loading to see where the phase change occurs - you must have an aluminum alloy book handy for this one, and a copy that has all the phase diagrams illustrated so you can see at what temp the metal loses its structural strength (anneals). The ASM four-book set on Aluminum includes one: subtitled "Properties, Physical Metallurgy and Phase Diagrams."

... this is my own personal system of aluminum sniff testing, because I don't yet have one of those nice electronic alloy testing guns ....

http://www.scrapmetaljunkie.com/252/...analyzer-gun-2

https://www.bruker.com/products/x-ra...rap-metal.html

[skintkarter]

Originally Posted by crystallographic

... this is my own personal system of aluminum sniff testing, because I don't yet have one of those nice electronic alloy testing guns ....

But you do have the World's largest collection of rivet guns Kent!