Q. Best sheet metal design?

[Cothron Theiss]

Originally Posted by InFlight

If your bending 0.125" sheet you will definitely need to have a larger bend radius on your sheet metal brake to not induce stress cracking.

From my experience, teaching students to bend and/or weld .125" and especially .25" 6061 is pretty difficult. If your design requires tighter bends and welding at some point, I would stick to 5052. 5052 is a great alloy to teach students to weld on, and if you outsource your welding, some shops will charge less for the easier allows to weld due to the different costs of filler materials. (This is probably a case-by-case thing, so it's just better to ask.)
If your frames won't include many complex bends or require minute and difficult welds, 6061 is an amazing alloy.


EDIT: A complete aside, but teams 2024, 5052, and 6061 are missing out on some of the coolest potential team names ever. Whoever becomes team 7075 has a great opportunity.