Thread: Panel Beating Aluminium

man i wouldn't add heat to Ali it will just twist and warp probably then make it harder got get dents out. Ali might even already be annealed. i would buy decent hammers and just dont hit it too hard cause u will just stretch it more u can get shrinking hammer dont know how good they are or how to use them.

Originally Posted by Flaps

man i wouldn't add heat to Ali it will just twist and warp probably then make it harder got get dents out. Ali might even already be annealed. i would buy decent hammers and just dont hit it too hard cause u will just stretch it more u can get shrinking hammer dont know how good they are or how to use them.

Annealing will make it easier to work and if applied carefully it shouldn't cause any twisting. I just wondered if anyone had worked it successfully without annealing.
As most of the panels are flat they wouldn't have work hardened but I'm not sure whether the aluminium supplied to the factory was 'half hard' or soft.

Tools used to work aluminium are often hardwood or plastic so that you don't deform the metal too much, hence I'm going to be making my own hammers.


Colin

oh yea iv seen the photos looks like a cool project i think if u are carefully with the heat and only heat the dents they may even pop out abit. but i would go with the hammer first choice then heat if it needs.

And if it were work hardened it may crack when dented so ud think it would still be soft

Remembering back to my half finished panel beating apprenticeship, you'll probably need a little carefully applied heat. The biggest trouble is that as there's no colour change, it's difficult to judge how much.
Too much heat, and instant hole
Keep a wet rag on hand to cool it down, and try and get or make a flipper (which is basically a large bastard file with the tang cut off, and the narrower tapered end bent around to form a handle) the little teeth are really good at shrinking stretched metal.

Good luck with it, it's a skill thats dying out unfortunately.

put dish-washing liquid on the other side to what you are heating(or the side that you are heating i cant actually remember) and when it starts to bubble/go brown then that is enough heat

If it's just simple dents then heat is the only thing needed to shrink it back. I once spent an awesome week watching a crusty gent shrinking a hail damaged alloy body from something of stupid value that should never have left the shed using nothing but oxy and bucket of water and rag.

I was about 15 or 16 and mesmerised at the fact you could run you hands over it and feel nothing when finished.

However, if mangeled/torn then beating needs annealing. There's good instructions on it in one of the old non genuine aftermarket manuals for a S3 (orange cover). Also details on welding on flame and fluxes to use. Best filler material is scraps of the parent birmabright itself.

A few links to drool over.


Heat Treatment of Aluminum Alloys


Ref; http://www.kirkhammotorsports.com/book_aoe/aoe_18.pdf

Original cars do not have a beautiful transitional sweep from the trunk latch area to the body area below.
The transition needed a little bit of surgery to make it right.
Aluminum must be annealed to move it very far.
First, I coated it with soot...

Ref; TM Technologies - Aluminum Alloys Continued

Some prefer to heat with the neutral torch flame, and rub the panel with either a bar of soap or a stick of soft pine, waiting for the material to char. At that point the temperature is somewhere around 650F. Some like to mark the aluminum with black felt tip pens before heating, but some pens are heavier in carbon content than others, so watch out for the more interesting results!
The techno-reader might now be thinking of the digital infrared thermocouple devices now sold for analysis work, but they do not work well at all on these reflective surfaces. Aside from the traditional and very convenient torch-soot method, I personally tend toward using the temperature indicating crayons sold in many welding stores. These crayons are remarkably accurate, easy to use and usually cost less than replacing most ruined new panels.


Tempilstik temperature indicator crayons make marks that melt within 1% of their rated temperatures, changing appearance from chalky to glossy. There are over 100 temperature ratings, systematically spaced between 100ºF -2500ºF (38ºC - 1371ºC.) Most can be certified to be lead, sulfur and halogen free.

The torch-soot method of annealing aluminum sheet needs to be specifically addressed here, partly due to certain well-meaning automotive influences, and partly because of the temporary wane of the aircraft metalworking tradition.

The torch-soot process is the method whereby the workman sets the torch to either pure acetylene or an acetylene-rich condition and coats the panel with the appropriate amount of soot. After resetting the torch either to a neutral flame (hot) or to an oxidizing flame (really hot), he then burns off the soot, achieving the proper heat necessary for recrystallization of the aluminum alloy, and its attendant annealing.

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