Hi Legs, and welcome to the group.
I can relate to your "condition" as I have met many in your shoes over the years I have been instructing metal work. We are in a new era of craftsmanship these days, and the old craftsmen are getting fewer and the information can be scarce. Lots of metal guys here, and some instructors, too.
For aluminum alloys that lend themselves to art, I highly recommend 3003, H14 hardness and 6061, T4 or T6 hardness. Fairly available from the sheetmetal cut-fold-bend-punch fab shops, and in .040 and .050 thickness, very workable, either hot or cold. These alloys weld, braze and solder. They also anodize and patinate well. Common wood working saws and routers mow them right down, also.
(I'll be doing two hands-on workshops in San Antonio, in late April, doing aluminum, steel, copper, etc. Using hand tools and air hammers.)
Wishing you success and joy,
__________________
Kent
"All it takes is a little practical experience to blow the he!! out of a perfectly good theory." --- Lloyd Rosenquist, charter member AWS, 1919.
Last edited by crystallographic; 03-05-2015 at 03:47 PM.
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