aluminum painting and bending

[bennelson]

Hey everyone,

I am almost ready to start adding metal to my Cubby.

I saw .050 inch 4x10 sheet aluminum for sale at a local Semi Trailer repair place. It is that stock, white aluminum that every trailer in the country is made out of.

Has anyone ever used this or tried painting it?

I think I would like to do a painted top (my sides are going to be spar-varnished out). It seems to me that this white aluminum would make sense, as it would already be primed. What type of paint or techniques work on aluminum?

Also, how about bending angle aluminum for the top edges? My local metal guy says that the front part of the curve is going to be impossible to bend without adding a lot off little cuts in the side of the angle.

He suggested using a ripped-down version, so that the part of the angle that covers the side would be really short. I know the Kuffel Creek plans call for heating the angle to soften it, but I am not sure that this will keep it from getting kinked when bent as far as it will go.

Any painting or bending info is greatly appreciated.

-Ben

[Cutterpup]

Hi Ben! You will find if you look at my teardrop that is't painted and the trim does not have any cuts in it. So tell your metal man that "if you tell a person that it can't be don't it wont". My trailer is painted with rustoleum spray cans because i could not find the color in qt cans. As for the trim all you need to do is annel it. Search the site for how its done but it's easy.

Dan

[toypusher]

Ben,

Check my 'www' (really Yahoo photos) and you can see pictures of 1/2" x 1/2" (1/16" thick) that is bent around the entire profile. I even used 1/2" channel aluminum on the sides where the hatch attaches and it bent fine after annealling it!

Kerry

[madjack]

...annealing will make the trim bend like butter...I have bent annealed channel in a 6" radius with no real problems...I would advise getting a rubber nosed or dead blow type of hammer before you begin for any little problems you might have...here is a good link on annealing
madjack