Aluminum tubing question

Hello everyone,
I come here hoping for some guidance. I have 1 3/8" diameter 1/8" think 6061 aluminum tubing. I am wanting to squeeze just about 4 inches at the top tapering it down to about 7/8" because I want to form a "T" with 7/8" tubing going across the top. The question I have is can I just squeeze this in a vise or do I have to heat it up first? Sorry if this is a simple newbie question, but I am just starting to do this sort of thing. Thank you for any help you can give!

Take the entire diameter down?

Or cut a slot and then squeeze it so its 7/8 in only one
direction.

The first one is hard to do, the second on is pretty easy, I'd
wager you could just squeeze her, but its going to spring, which
isn't a big deal if you are welding it.

you could probably just squeeze it if you are OK with a transition from round to ellipse, having the "T" interface significantly wider than the rest of the tube. It might look smoother if you math out your taper angle and make an angled plate to put in your vise when you squeeze it.

Bobw said:

Take the entire diameter down?

Or cut a slot and then squeeze it so its 7/8 in only one
direction.

The first one is hard to do, the second on is pretty easy, I'd
wager you could just squeeze her, but its going to spring, which
isn't a big deal if you are welding it.

Click to expand...

Yeah the whole diamteter . . . I didn't know if I would have to worry about it cracking if I didn't heat it? Sorry I misread that . . . It will actually only need to be 7/8 one way and can be oblong. It will be welded. I'm just making bars for my kids scooter, he grew extremely tall for his age and they don't make any the right height to just buy

Yeah I'm ok with an ellipse, I just didn't know if I would have to heat it to avoid cracking. I like the angled plate idea, I think that would serve me well! Thanks!

hughes_25 said:

Yeah I'm ok with an ellipse, I just didn't know if I would have to heat it to avoid cracking. I like the angled plate idea, I think that would serve me well! Thanks!

Click to expand...

Try it and find out. If you anneal 6061 it's not a simple homebrew task to get the temper back the way it came.

BoxcarPete said:

Try it and find out. If you anneal 6061 it's not a simple homebrew task to get the temper back the way it came.

Click to expand...

Welding is going to take out the heat treatment anyway, right?

BoxcarPete said:

Try it and find out. If you anneal 6061 it's not a simple homebrew task to get the temper back the way it came.

Click to expand...

Its not that far off. Get it to around 1000 degrees and dunk it in water. That will first off get you
pretty soft aluminum(for the time being), but it will also Solution Treat it, a condition T0 (zero).
Then just it let it sit for 3 days at room temp and it will naturally age harden to a T4. If you want to
take it to a T6, toss it in the oven for 12 hours at 375 after its sat around for 3 days.

A condition '0'... just Zero, not T0. is achieved by moderate elevated temp for a certain amount of time,
there is a "proper" per spec way to do it, but basically just heat and slow cooling. And then it will
stay soft and gooey FOREVER... Until you solution treat it.


Compared to say.. heat treating 4140 PROPERLY!!!, dealing with aluminum is really
inside the Harry Home Shop realm, especially if your wife has a pottery kiln.