Bending Aluminum Sheet Without Cracking

You may find that you have to go to a 1 4 radius to keep from cracking.

Bending aluminum sheet without cracking. Highly formable and one of the best kinds of aluminum to bend. The important thing to know is that it is brittle and will most often crack if you re trying to bend it with a tight radius. The aluminum series ability to bend tends to decrease as you move down the list of tempers from annealed to t4 and t6. Typically cracking or fatiguing is not an issue unless it needs to be unbent and reworked but that s pretty common of almost any malleable metal.

Proper bending can be done with annealing the aluminum first although it s not an ideal candidate for formed parts. For most aluminum sheet the inside radius of the bend should at least be equal to the sheet thickness. If the alloy is higher strength and or heat treated the radius goes up to double the thickness or more. Then place the clamp bar back down on top of the aluminum crosswise.

Sure you can get away with it sometimes as the tempering will vary slightly and you might be able to get away with it being aluminum tubing without it cracking but i ve found that to get consistent results you need to use a bendable grade. Bending these tempered alloys is not impossible but it is very difficult and will most likely require large bend radii to avoid cracking on the outside of the bend. Make sure the bar is seated firmly inside the frame. Bending along the grain makes these radii even more important.