[TheForge] forging aluminum

[David E. Smucker]

Roger is right about the aluminum being harder to forge that mild steel and 
being a really good conductor.  Still it can be done.  The best way to gauge 
temperature is the small pine stick trick.  When it chares good it is ready 
to forge.  Roger problem of it going "hot short" is most likely the result 
of the alloy used in horse shoes.  If you can find some 3003 alloy that you 
will not have near this problem and you should be able to form leaves etc. 
without too much problem.  3003 is the most favored alloy for those doing 
sheet forming work, say for the inside of race cars for example.  Biggest 
problem will be getting it too hot in which case it gets wet and flows out 
the bottom of your forge.  I don't know of any good books or our kind of 
forging for aluminum, but there are books of course on the technical aspect 
of the metal.

Dave Smucker
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Roger Olsen" <erik at methow.com>
To: "Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, June 03, 2005 1:19 PM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] forging aluminum


> Hi Andy,
>
> I cannot give you a lot of information but I can tell you this:
>
> Yes aluminum can be forged but the tolerances are not as forgiving as mild
> steel.  For instance you would have a hard time doing leaves and flowers. 
> It
> can be done but it will frustrate you for  sure.
>
> Back in the old old days I did a lot of forging of aluminum bar stock for
> horse shoes.  3/8  x 1.  No problem bending the horse shoe shape or 
> punching
> the nail holes.
>
> The problem is getting the stock to hot.  You cannot go by color and if 
> you
> cross the line it will just break in two instead of bend.  I used the 
> wooden
> handle of my wire brush to tell if it is hot,  the aluminum was ready to 
> forge
> when the wood smoked and felt like grease on the aluminum.
>
> The other thing is aluminum is a hell of a conductor,  if you were heating 
> the
> last 6 inches of a 3 foot piece the heat will still migrate the whole 
> length.
>
> I'd say just start plotting with some scrap and find what works,
> temperatures similar and even lower than copper is somewhere you will want 
> to
> be.  The metal will let you know when it is to cold and to hot.
>
> hope this helps a little.
>
> Roger
> ______________________
>
> Gladish Family wrote:
>
>> Hi, everybody.
>> Has any of you got experience forging aluminum, or know of a good book
>> or resource on same?
>> I want to build a decorative screen for a garden, and aluminum would be
>> the best choice for the location, but can't seem to find anything in my
>> library about forging it. Is it done cold and annealed, or do you use a
>> low heat in the forge?
>> In the dark here...
>> Thanks!
>> Andy G.
>>
>> --
>> Andy Gladish, Metalwork
>> 7141 Guemes Island Rd.
>> Anacortes, WA 98221
>> Element Forge  www.elementfe.com
>> mailto: andy at elementfe.com
>>
>> I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object be 
>> what
>> it may, -- light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful.
>> -John Constable, painter (1776-1837)
>>
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