ok guys got a quick question and dont know where else to ask it so what better place then here anyways the question is about bead rolling intercooler piping i get all my bends and straight tubing from columbia river but they claim on there site that the bends are 6061 and also there straight tubing is 6061 but as far as i know 6061 can not be bent of formed so i have a vibrant bead roller and i can bead roll the bend materiel (which i believe is 3000 series) but the straight materiel is marked 6061 and when bead rolled it just cracks and such but my question to you is what are you guys doing for straight tubing i couldnt find a place that sells 3000 series straight tubing or tell me your tricks for bead rolling 6061 lol.

Eric

 

vibrant piping doesn't crack when you roll it. that is def weird though. got any pics?

aaron

 

the global tech stuff does not crack as well as vibrant as mentioned above. maybe you can just weld a bead around it or just order some decent material?

 

here is a bead roll on there 6061 t6 straight stuff and this isnt even a big bead like the others



heres what i get when bead rolling there bends

 

you clearly have some other type of aluminum if it is cracking like that. in the aircraft industry, we use 2024, 6061, and 7075, all of which have different minimum bend radius' depending on material thickness

 

I bet they are both 6061, the bends are probably just a softer temper. I would look into annealing the ends of the straight sections before trying to bead roll them. 6061-T0 can be bent and formed, but 6061-T6 is extremely prone to cracking, just like you are seeing.

 

If its been mandrel bent 6061, it's likely been annealed to a T0 prior to bending. If its straight tube you need to bead, heat it up with a oxy/acytl torch first. Soot the surface, then burn it off. You can also anneal it in a kiln if you have access to one. 750F for 2 hours.

 

dang, 2 hours of baking is a lot of energy and a long time to wait to put a bead on something that should only take 5 min to do. my concern is the cost associated with doing so. you could save time and money getting straight that doesn't require this step.

aaron

 

thats what i was thinking

 

I had the same problem. Just heat it up with a torch like they said. Works fine. Only takes a minute.

 

You only need to heat the tube for 2 hours if you need a specific and uniform annealing level. 2 hours at 750 anneals to a full T0. A T3 will bead just fine, which is achievable with just oxy/acyt torch and a couple minutes.

 

If you don't have an oxy/ace rig you could use a 20 lbs propane tank and a harbor freight weed burner. I have an oxy/ace setup but use the weed burner for heating because the fuel is so much cheaper. Might want to pick up a infrared laser thermometer while you are at HF too to help get an idea of the temp range