How To Straighten Aluminum Sheet Metal

15 gauge and 0 063 in.

How to straighten aluminum sheet metal. Don t know about flattening but i found that sand or bead blasting one side of sheet aluminum will put a bow in the metal bowing toward the blasted side. The vast majority of aluminum automobile bodies made before 1970 were of either 1100 or 3003 half hard h14 sheet in varying thicknesses of 0 040 in. The process of straightening metal is one that while seeming easy is actually a fairly difficult thing to do correctly. Sheet metal isn t all that different from a car s bodywork so most methods which will remove dents from a car work for sheet metal.

Learn how to bend sheet metal so you. However hammering should be done. Purchase a metal bending brake online or at your local hardware store. The fabricator does not heat this metal to the point where the metal undergoes molecular changes.

Aluminum sheet gauge numbers differ from steel sheet gauge numbers. In order to counteract this stretch you have to be able to shrink the metal back to its original position. A bending brake is a specialized metalworking tool used to create precise linear bends and folds in light gauge sheet metals like the kind used to make flashing for doors windows and roofs. Weston bye author.

18 gauge 0 050 in. On a molecular level the increased heat causes the molecules of the sheet metal to become excited. Put a nice matte finish on the piece but it wasn t flat anymore. With the right tools you can easily straighten aluminum yourself rather than spending money on a new piece of metal.

Aluminum is highly malleable which makes it easy to work with but also easy to accidentally bend. The reason for this is that metal tends to stretch when it is bent. If you do inadvertently bend a piece of aluminum don t assume it is ruined and throw it away. Bending sheet metal by hand is a manageable task if the piece of sheet metal is small and thin enough to handle.

In order to straighten it. Stretching hot shrinking annealing metal finishing cold shrinking hot work planishing. In addition the stresses added to this metal do not surpass the yield stress of the metal in the heated condition which is the point at which the metal deforms into an undesirable shape. Aluminum is a versatile metal used in construction transportation and aeroscience.

Aluminum is also 100 percent recyclable and easily can be repaired. Straightening tempered aluminum sheets key words. As with a steel part a good start is made by pushing or bumping out with the appropriately contoured tool. Heat straightening does not symmetrically straighten the metal and is a gradual process.