Detail Cart

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I made a little cart to hold my car detailing supplies. I used square tubing for the logo "XM" and twisted it. The logo also supports the top shelf. Attached Images
Reply:Next project is to take this flat bar and rod, and make a trash grate for a drainage pipe. Attached Images
Reply:You tryin to say there is more to washin a car than leavin it out in the rain?Appreciation Gains You Recognition-
Reply:Just another hobby of mine.
Reply:Next on Discovery " American Detail Cart "   MIKEY WHERE THE HELL IS MY DETAILING CLAY AND SPRITZER?That is nice work.
Reply:I had a truck once that I washed a couple times, right after I got it.Damn truck developed an attitude, wouldn't start if it wasn't clean.Jumper cables straightened that up right quick.You know that cart would be appropriate for Mikey.  Doesn't he look like the kid Mikey from the cerial commercial?  Mikey likes it, he'll eat anything.Appreciation Gains You Recognition-
Reply:How did you twist that stuff?"after a long day of doing nothing...its gooood to kick back" Pumbaa
Reply:Cart looks nice, shame that tubing was so mangled. Good for you for using it anyways
Reply:Being aluminum and alternating twists I'm going to take a guess and say vice with softjaws and flatjawed pipe wrench or pickle fork.  How'd I do?Wes
Reply:Well, I put one end in a vise and tack welded a bar on the other end so it looks like the letter "T". Then I heated a section with a oxy torch twisted it one way, heated the next section then twisted the other way. Repeat until entire bar is twisted. Its only for looks, I wouldn't trust it for anything important. I think the aluminum looses strength when heated like that, someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Reply:cbrxx,It was always my impression it was best to bend aluminum when it was cold and the colder the better (but then again I don't work with a lot of aluminum, yet).  Hopefully someone wiser will chime in on this.Wes
Reply:Yes, you should bend aluminum cold, however, it might break if you bend it too much.  Hence, one may need to heat it, but be careful, it is EASY to melt and you won't know because it doesn't turn red like steel and it melts FAST and turns into a water-like substance that will tear away from your work if there is a HINT of gravity around.  If you do heat it, you will lose all the cold worked strength, so it will be dead soft after you've heated it.If you are breaking your aluminum part when you try to cold bend it, a comprimise would be to hot bend it part of the way, then finish it with a final cold bend.  In this way, you will get some of the strength back through the process of cold bending it.  That's my 2 cents, metallurgically speaking.
Reply:What grade aluminum is it? By heating it, you are anealing it. Yes the strength will be gone and yes it will be soft. You can get the strenth back by heatteating it. I would give you the procedure, but I do not know it. If you do heat it up, you need to be careful not to overdo it. As nelsonic58 stated, it will melt very fast and you wont even know it. Cold bending is the right way to do it, but it can't always be done that way for the average hobbyist. My $.02.