Changing the angle on aluminum angle?

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Apex Predator

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This is my first post. I wanted to thank all on this forum, because I've learned a lot already. I've been an avid boater since I was twelve, and my dad let me take his 14' skiff by myself around the salt creeks of Ga. That was over thirty years ago!

I've owned boats ranging in size from 12' to 23', but this is my first tin boat! I picked up a 1997 MonArk 1644, which I plan to modify to suit my needs. First order of business is a removable plywood floor and a permanent plywood casting deck on the bow. The small original bow deck is too small and actually angled forward. My new deck would be too high if building over it. I want 3-4" of gunnels around the new deck. I have ordered some 1 1/2" angle aluminum to build my deck frame, which will attach to the hull gunnels and bow. The angle will need to be reduced on all pieces so that the plywood will lay flat on the mounting surface. How do I go about bending this stuff to the proper angle? It is 1/8" stock. Thanks!
 
Welcome Apex :D

Ok aluminum angle is not designed to be bent. I am not sure which way you are intending to bend it though either? It is designed to stay at the 90 degree angle. If you are planning on using fairly small pieces the you can get some flat bar and bend that to a custom angle. If all are going to be the same then just make a wooden jig at the angle you are going for and bend all your small pieces to match. Aluminum bends pretty easy depending on the thickness of course. Heating it will also allow it to bend easier but can also temper it causing it to become brittle. Just get a bendable grade of aluminum like 6061.
 
I want to mount a frame to the inside of the hull. The plywood deck would be supported on the front, and left and right sides by this. Of course I would have other bracing. The bow and sides are not vertical. The bow has the greatest forward angle. The sides are flaired outward, but not nearly the degree that the bow is.

Should I just use pine 2X2s? I can through bolt them. I can cut the angle on my table saw.
 
Just make sure you use aluminum shims or wood. Washers could work well as long as they are aluminum. Steel will corrode aluminum and so will treated wood. I used 2X2's (doug fir) when I framed in my boat and it worked very well. Pine should be fine though. You can seal it with spar varnish or something if you want it to last longer.
 
I would use plastic shims myself. You will want to cut the aluminum with a miter saw with carbide tips on the blade. Lube the blade up with WD-40 before you start cutting.
 
I made a small wooden platform on the bow of my 14' Gregor to place my fish finder, lights, etc. on but not to step on. Being a pack rat, I found some acute angle aluminum brackets in my junk pile that fit perfectly for the purpose. I don't know where I got them from but apparently they do exist.

Another possibility:

https://www.amazon.com/80-20-Series-4-HOLE-JOINING/dp/B001IA2M5C
 
I was able to put some angle in a vise and make a slight bend so that it leveled out - I know probably weakened it but it worked!


Shimmed out everything else
 
Bugpac said:
6061 is not a bendable grade. Never heat aluminum and try to bend it.

Huh thats funny because I have bent and made many custom braces, brackets etc...... with 6061 and never had an issue with it. Not sure where you got the idea 6061 is not bendable? Or should I get more technical and say 6061-T6511? And I don't heat my aluminum when I bend it, I do it cold.
 
Working on boats....which never have any really square corners...often calls for copying strange angles.

Once copied, the angle can be drawn on the structural material and then cut. A tool such as the one show below helps a lot.

My personal angle copier doesn't have all of the bells and whistles like this one does....i.e. levels etc.. I am certain that you can find one for a few bucks.

Heck, a folding ruler segment can be used as a quickee angle copier.

Nice thing to have in the tool box...fancy or plain. Rich

https://www.harborfreight.com/16-inch-digital-angle-level-65451.html
 
I had a 6 inch piece to play with this morning while my order from Online Metals is in shipping. I was able to hammer it to the right angle fairly easily. It may have lost some strength, but I don't think it will hurt me any. I figure I'll use a few shorter sections instead of one continuous piece on the front where the angle needs to be changed the most, and be fine. Here is my bow. I've got to remove the short platform that is there first. Standby for updates. I think I'll start a new thread.

MonArkJonBefore5.jpg


MonArkJonBefore.jpg
 
Not sure if this will help, but I used small pieces of alum. angle bolted together to create a "foot" that can be adjusted to the angle you need.
IMG_1061.jpg
 
WhiteMoose said:
Not sure if this will help, but I used small pieces of alum. angle bolted together to create a "foot" that can be adjusted to the angle you need.
IMG_1061.jpg

Another useful idea! Thanks bud!
 
Johny25 said:
Bugpac said:
6061 is not a bendable grade. Never heat aluminum and try to bend it.

Huh thats funny because I have bent and made many custom braces, brackets etc...... with 6061 and never had an issue with it. Not sure where you got the idea 6061 is not bendable? Or should I get more technical and say 6061-T6511? And I don't heat my aluminum when I bend it, I do it cold.

6061-t4 is what your looking for. Do some research.

Sorry to challenge your 100 yrs of boat building experience and what not. But 6061 is indeed formable, in t4 temper, but it is recommended to have 6 x the radius as the thickness, now for a guy bending brackets in his vice etc, this probably isn't gonna fair well, and if it does, especially seeing its a bracket, all the little stress cracks you nor I can see, may break later on. So now I ask, why would someone recommend the wrong material for the job? As for the heat, when you heat aluminum your tempering it, thus making it less workable and more fragile. It's great to have opinions, as well all do, but just because you did it or I did it, doesn't mean its right.
 
We weren't talking about building a boat to start with. The OP was about brackets that an every day guy could make out of aluminum. It is really not as complicated and technical as you would like to make it out to be. To each there own, but I know what I have made out of this stuff and stand by what I said and how it can be bent. Could you look at it with a microscope and find stress cracks, sure ya could but we aren't making swiss watches here are we. All the braces, brackets, supports etc. I have made over the years are still doing there job just like the day they were made. In 300 years when they finely fall apart then you can say I told you so :roll:
 
I suppose you would recommend storing gas in a milk jug as well, since it has worked before.

For anyone reading, do some research on materials before you spend your hard earned money on a overpriced piece of 6061, and bend it and end up with 2 pieces.

https://www.precisionsheetmetal.com/home/materials.htm
 

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