Thin wall 6061 aluminum tubing

[JamesCH95]

Originally Posted by btslaser

Anyone have a source for 1" x 2" x 1/16" 6061 tubing? I found a couple places with 6063... is 6061 available?

Erm... McMaster?

PN: 89965K68

Trick: searching under the "pipes for flow" products.

[Nate Laverdure]

Originally Posted by JamesCH95

McMaster PN: 89965K68

Looks like he wanted rectangular tubing, not round.

[Cory]

It should be very common at almost any good local metal supplier. Metal Supermarkets carried it as of a few years ago, but their prices are not very good. I know there are branches in Texas. Not sure where.

[JamesCH95]

Originally Posted by Nate Laverdure

Looks like he wanted rectangular tubing, not round.

[Brandon Holley]

We buy ours in large quantities from Admiral Metals in Woburn, MA.

-Brando

[JesseK]

Neither BMG or Potomac Steel here in Northern Virginia have the 1/16" wall. They have reasonable prices on the 1/8" wall though. Thin wall is elusive indeed...

However, both suppliers have 1.5" Square Tubing at 1/16" wall, which is something we may consider. (We're doing WCD for the first time this year).

Edit ... dang, I just noticed that BMG swapped to 6063 tubing, though I'm sure it used to be 6061. For a drive train frame, what are the implications of 6063 vs. 6061?

[Gary Dillard]

ASTM B308 gives UTS/YS for 6061-T6 of 38/35 ksi, AMS4156 for 6063-T6 gives UTS/YS of 30/25 ksi, so it does have 30% lower strength. If you're welding it you will lose the temper in the heat affected zone either way and can only count on about 9 ksi there. It pretty much depends on how much margin you have in the design; if this is your entire section and it's 1/16 thick it doesn't sound like there's much but if this is part of a box frame then you may be OK. Chemical compositions are pretty similar so they'll form and machine about the same.

[Brian Selle]

Update - 6061 Rectagular 1x2x0.062

Coast Aluminum - in stock ~$3.00/ft (they have a location in Arizona too)
Admiral Metals - in stock (waiting to hear back on price)
OnlineMetals - not stocked
Metal SuperMarkets - not stocked (they are in Dallas but are way $$)
McMaster - not stocked (1/8" wall is 3x the price of local dealer)

Thanks for info!

[Cory]

Originally Posted by btslaser

Update - 6061 Rectagular 1x2x0.062

Coast Aluminum - in stock ~$3.00/ft (they have a location in Arizona too)
Admiral Metals - in stock (waiting to hear back on price)
OnlineMetals - not stocked
Metal SuperMarkets - not stocked (they are in Dallas but are way $$)
McMaster - not stocked (1/8" wall is 3x the price of local dealer)

Thanks for info!

The cost is highly dependent on the weight of the order at most places. The more you buy the cheaper it gets. You should be able to get around $2 per pound if you place a pretty good sized order.

[Phyrxes]

Just checked at www.speedymetals.com and they don't stock it in 6061, theirs is 6063.

[sgreco]

2079 uses Pierce Aluminum. We have purchased exactly what you are looking for in the past.

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by Gary Dillard

Chemical compositions are pretty similar so they'll form and machine about the same.

Not true. In my opinion, 6063 machines terribly. It is somewhat "gummy". The chips like to melt to cutting tools and it's sometimes tough to get a nice surface finish. I try to avoid it when I can, but certain extrusions are not available in 6061.

[DampRobot]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

Not true. In my opinion, 6063 machines terribly. It is somewhat "gummy". The chips like to melt to cutting tools and it's sometimes tough to get a nice surface finish. I try to avoid it when I can, but certain extrusions are not available in 6061.

Do you mean at certain speeds, you can melt end mills milling 6063? Would this be with cooling? I ask because one of those "certain extrusions" is what we're planning to use in our drive train wheel trucks. We would be pressing in bearings too.

[R.C.]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

Not true. In my opinion, 6063 machines terribly. It is somewhat "gummy". The chips like to melt to cutting tools and it's sometimes tough to get a nice surface finish. I try to avoid it when I can, but certain extrusions are not available in 6061.

Originally Posted by DampRobot

Do you mean at certain speeds, you can melt end mills milling 6063? Would this be with cooling? I ask because one of those "certain extrusions" is what we're planning to use in our drive train wheel trucks. We would be pressing in bearings too.

David is correct.

DampRobot (real name/team # would help), even with coolant and such. 6063 is gummy stuff. Its also weaker and will bend easier. You can easily crush it in a vise (while true with 6061, its a bit harder). I'd steer clear away from it.

What are you looking at that you can't get in 6061?

-RC

[JamesCH95]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

Not true. In my opinion, 6063 machines terribly. It is somewhat "gummy". The chips like to melt to cutting tools and it's sometimes tough to get a nice surface finish. I try to avoid it when I can, but certain extrusions are not available in 6061.

I believe this is because 6063 is rarely available with a strong temper/heat treatment. I have had the displeasure of post-weld machining 6061 with even worse results because it has nearly been annealed. 3003 and 1100 are also garbage to machine for the same reason I think.

Extra strong alloys, like 2024 and especially 7075, machine like butter in my experience.