FritzW
Well-Known Member
Is there a "homebuilder rule of thumb" way to re-temper annealed 6061 without going through the textbook (expensive and complicated) method? I wouldn't be making anything "life and death" like wing spars. ...close enough would be close enough
I got to playing with annealing some scrap 6061 T-6, forming it and re-tempering it. I used the old "burning off the candle soot" method to anneal it. To re-temper it I just heated it up as hot as I thought I could and quenched it. It seems to have re-tempered okay, not back to T-6 but not not dead soft either. I'm hoping to find something more repeatable than just guessing it's as hot as you can get it. ...something like the candle soot trick but for tempering.
.016 6061 T-6 (annealed) formed in a mold made from a pine 2x4's squeezed in a vice.
I got to playing with annealing some scrap 6061 T-6, forming it and re-tempering it. I used the old "burning off the candle soot" method to anneal it. To re-temper it I just heated it up as hot as I thought I could and quenched it. It seems to have re-tempered okay, not back to T-6 but not not dead soft either. I'm hoping to find something more repeatable than just guessing it's as hot as you can get it. ...something like the candle soot trick but for tempering.
.016 6061 T-6 (annealed) formed in a mold made from a pine 2x4's squeezed in a vice.
