what kind of aluminum to have around for fabing

[fishburn123]

Im heading about 3 hours away from my house and heading to a surplus aluminum yard that has pretty good prices on aluminum sheeting. what type of aluminum should i stock up on to build tool boxes and a flat bed for a pickup truck. and what alum. should i get just to keep in stock for various projects that I could come across thanks.

[DesertRider33]

6061 is easily weldable both tig and mig and usually what I use when doing projects in aluminum.

[fishburn123]

Originally Posted by DesertRider33

6061 is easily weldable both tig and mig and usually what I use when doing projects in aluminum.

what size aluminum sheeting would be good for a truck bed, is 1/8 enough? and what size square tubing would be good for the frame of the bed. how do you tell the grade of alumn. you have
thanks

[DesertRider33]

When bought new, the metal supplier can tell you what the grade is. When bought used, look for markings on the metal. They often print it along the length of extrusions or put a sticky tag on the end. Any other used piece of aluminum with no markings is 'mystery metal' to me.

I would probly use 3/16 to 1/4 on the truck bed deck, depending on what will be loaded on it and what the cross member spacing will be underneath. Most beds use c-channel for the framework.

[Rojodiablo]

In general, 6061 does the trick perfectly. if you are bending material, go to 5052, it is a much more formable material, it bonds perfectly well with 6061 and other popular grades of aluminum alloy.

[fishburn123]

Originally Posted by Rojodiablo

In general, 6061 does the trick perfectly. if you are bending material, go to 5052, it is a much more formable material, it bonds perfectly well with 6061 and other popular grades of aluminum alloy.

I just went to the surplus yard today, picked up about 5 sheets of 5052 1/8 48 by 96 inch. diamond. plate alumn. sheet for about 425.00 and a piece of 1/4 smooth alum. sheet 48 by 96 for about 285.00 . I found these weird pieces of 1 by 1 square tubing but they have a notch on one side it looks like a piece of 1 inch with a c channel attached. I figured at 35 10ft. sticks for 100.00 I'm not doing too bad. the knotch accually makes it really strong i couldn't bend a 4ft. section for nothing at least with my hands. lol I think i did ok. and I got some .040 4 by 8 sheets painted for 33 a piece.

[oxy moron]

somebody is stocking up!!

[fishburn123]

its hard to find cheap alumn. in florida,