Rolling aluminum square tube?

[larboc]

I'm trying to roll some 1.5x1.5x1/8" tubing to match the contour of the back of my airstream. I've got a HF roller with swag flat dies, is this going to work or am I going to waste the tubing?

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Anneal it first so it doesn't crack on the stretched side?

Cracking would be my only concern trying that

 

[Snoop dogg]

Probably need something like 6063 if that comes in that tube shape. I think 6061 would crack but maybe not if it's a big radius

 

[bdkw1]

Unless you stuff it with some sort of plastic filler block it will deform the sides. I've used strips of nylon to stuff aluminum parts for bending before.

 

[Quick & Dirty]

I used to work at a place that formed aluminum parts. For round tube we hade a mandrel made from a piece of round plastic. Slots were cut across it to leave disks connected by a flat section so it would bend in one plane. I don't remember what kind of plastic it was, flexible to follow the bend but hard enough not to crush.
Side view looked like this;

We did full solution heat treat on 6061. Heat to 985° for an hour, quench in water/glycol makes it butter soft for forming. It's only soft for a couple hours, so we had to process it quickly. Then 350° for 8 hours to harden it to T6. It will naturally age to T4 without the oven.

 

[Bacho]

I'm trying to roll some 1.5x1.5x1/8" tubing to match the contour of the back of my airstream. I've got a HF roller with swag flat dies, is this going to work or am I going to waste the tubing?

I rolled the same material in a much shallower curve when making my boat top. It was way more work on that roller than I had imagined, but did not crack.