6061 T6 .100 for deck questions

TinBoats.net

Help Support TinBoats.net:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

sss

Active member
Joined
May 19, 2019
Messages
29
Reaction score
1
Doing research to add a false floor and forward deck my 14’ Lone Star Corsair. I want to use aluminum due to weight savings.
Will I need to anneal the 6061 in order to bend 90*?
At most, I think I will have an 18” span between supports. Can I get away with thinner material than .100?
Thanks,
Shell
 
A lot of others have used aluminum, I think mostly out of aluminum angle.

Check out onthewater's build of his 1436, should give you a good idea. His build came out great.

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=33630
 
3-sided u-channel can be strong enough at .062" thick. 2-sided L-channel I recommend .090" - .125". I wouldn't waste my time making my own channel when you can get it at a very reasonable price off speedymetals.com.
 
Enwez, thanks, I’ll check out his build.
Ericman, thanks for that info! I was planning to slice some either 2x4 tube or 2x3 tube to build my hatch channels and deck bracing, I wasn’t aware of the 3-sided channel. That will save some work if it’s reasonably priced!
The question about annealing for bends and rigidity over spans concerned the false floor and step-up forward deck. I may be able to build it in one piece.
I don’t want to choose a material thickness that’s heavier than needed but also don’t want the floor or deck to oil-can.
Thanks for the help
 
I wouldn't go any thinner than .100 and would use ,125 myself. 18 inches is a good span and you'll want the extra thickness. It's going to depend on how much weight you have to support also. I don't think you need to anneal it. I wouldn't go beyond the 90^ bend though or it will crack out. If you use it for the floor I'd support the back side of it with some pink foam like you can get at the big box stores.
 
I've got some .032 6061 T6 that I'm using for vertical surfaces to save on weight and it bends just fine, but I was warned about not bending the radius too tight as it's prone to cracking. I'm bending it around a rounded corner on a piece of steel angle, so maybe 1/8" radius to the bend, nothing huge and wide sweeping, but not a 90 degree turn on the inside of the angle/bend.

.080 and .100 are what most boat manufacturers use and they're building with 5052 which is much more flexible than 6061 so you should be fine.

I'm using 1" x 1" x 1/8" 6061 T6 angle for all my framing and as long as you're not spanning more than 18" or so there is no flex in it. I've made all the connections so the horizontal angle rests on the vertical support to avoid sheer loads on the rivets - I'll get some pictures of this and add them to my Tracker III build next time I'm working on the boat to show you what I mean.
 
Thanks for the input. I went to bed last night thinking 5052 would be the wiser choice. Still on the fence. I’m going to do some more research and I’ll stop back in.
 
Looks like it's the less expensive option of the two by 16% in the .100" thickness from onlinemetals.com - I don't know if that holds true with other suppliers.
 
sss: 5052-H32 used to be the most common boatbuilding alloy(may still be). Weldable, certainly bendable(to a point) and not too hard to keep paint on. Not as corrosion-resistant as 6061-T6, but you're NOT going to successfully make 90 degree bends in .100 6061-T6. Forget about annealing. Aluminum heat treating is not easy and not something you can do in your garage. TexasJim
 

Latest posts

Top