Quote:
Originally Posted by squirrel
Ken, the ductility problem with 6061 applies to 4130 as well.....if the part is to be bent, it ought to be made of relatively low strength material.
Bending 3/8" od 1/32" wall soft steel tubing with a bender is tricky enough, I can't imagine trying to bend 3/4" high strength 1/16" wall steel tubing without a bender without having it kink.
|
Actually, both 6061-T6 0.049" wall and 4130 0.035"-0.068" wall can be bent. We have been doing it on our robots for years, especially the 6061. Its funny - the first time you ask someone to bend it, they say you can't do it, and they sometimes show you a bent wrinkled up cracked mess. But we knew a guy (recently retired UAW technician) who could make some pretty nice tight bends in 6061 tubing. He used sand. I'll try and dig up some pictures.
Another possibility if its an outdoor application would be stainless steel. If anyone remembers the "wings" we had on our 2003 bot, they were made from tightly bent 3/4" OD stainless tubing.
Ken