Welding 6061 T6

bdc71

Have an idea to do with handle bars and want to try it on a pair of handle bars made from 6061 T6. Would like to weld a couple of pieces of 6061 T6 pipe to my handlebars.

From what I have been told I am crazy for trying this. Whether I am crazy or not, i would like to do it but understand that once I weld the bars, I will have to heat treat them again. I have heard to do this that I can heat the bars at 350 for 8 hours. This is not a problem to do as I have a oven at work to do this.

My question is has anyone done any modifications to aluminum bars with welding and what did they do to heat treat them.

So if you do not heat the bars, but bend them do you have to heat treat them again.

Weisse Luft

Have an idea to do with handle bars and want to try it on a pair of handle bars made from 6061 T6. Would like to weld a couple of pieces of 6061 T6 pipe to my handlebars.

From what I have been told I am crazy for trying this. Whether I am crazy or not, i would like to do it but understand that once I weld the bars, I will have to heat treat them again. I have heard to do this that I can heat the bars at 350 for 8 hours. This is not a problem to do as I have a oven at work to do this.

My question is has anyone done any modifications to aluminum bars with welding and what did they do to heat treat them.

So if you do not heat the bars, but bend them do you have to heat treat them again.

Don't do it, its not a good idea. The only area which has any "butting" is the clamp area, all others are progressively thinner on most bars. Unless you have unreal aluminum welding skills, you will not be able to make a quality joint on such thin material. But if you can weld aluminum cans together and have them hold ~15 PSI, you might have the "touch".

Welding T6 aluminum will overage it, requiring a full post weld solution heat treat at 990F and immediate quench. Then precipation harden at 320 F for 18 hours, air cooling. Then it is aged at 350F for 8 hours and air cooled. After that, be prepared for some serious distortion. Frame makers jig to restrain the distortion.

Cold working T6 is a bad idea. It turns into mush as far as strength goes.

bdc71

So what do you think about bending this material and not welding it. I can do it another way by bending the 6061 with no welding. So as long as I do not heat the 6061, everything should be alright.
The guys at my work are amazing welders. You should see what they do with stainless and aluminum. We work mostly with stainless but the things they do with aluminum is amazing as well. I would bet money that they could weld the pop cans together and do a perfect job.

Weisse Luft

Bending 6061 is possible only after annealing at 775 F for a few hours. After bending, aging at the 320/350F two stage process should restore T6. Kinking can be avoided by filling tubes with suitable solid like sand but sharp bends should be avoided as local thinning will severly weaken the tube. In tubes that are bent, thinning can be very severe unless hot worked and tube is axially compressed during the bending process.

artmichalek

Even if you could get a solid weld and then heat treat it, you probably shouldn't. Handle bars are designed pretty tightly around a prescribed loading scenario. Added appendages will probably load the bar in ways it wasn't meant to be. You might want to just find a tube bender and start with a fresh piece of thicker walled tubing.