AL, warm bend, or cold bend

[Aukai]

I have an ambulance cot/gurney that the gorillas have manhandled. It will take a minimum of 1 month to get the parts through the chain of command. This is a 1' AL rectangular tubing 1/2" x 1" so that the wheels can swing up going into the patient compartment. My concern is having it crack when trying to press it straight again. What is the best approach?

 

[AGCB97]

I say new metal. Bending it back to previous will greatly fatigue it.
Aaron

 

[savarin]

I have successfully bent aluminium back to original positions and also 90' bends in 1/4 plate by heating it.
Use the smoke of a raw acetylene flame or candle to smoke the bend area, heat with a naked flame till the carbon disappears, bend a little at a time, re smoke etc etc.
You can feel it harden up if bending by hand and thats when to re smoke/anneal.

 

[Aukai]

New piece is being ordered, and fatigue is a concern. I had hoped to use the press, thanks for the responses so far.

 

[Mitch Alsup]

Defiantly use heat.

 

[kb58]

The metal can first be annealed by marking with a black Sharpie pen, then heated with a torch until the marks are gone. It's now safe to bend, but that's because the metal is now dead soft, rendering it no good if it has to bear a load. So yeah, ordering a replacement or making a new part is most efficient.

 

[Aukai]

This is a collapsing joint that when leg are fully extended it keeps the legs from folding back(cross brace), but when triggered the joint folds to let the legs lay flat.

 

[Boswell]

if failure could mean injury to someone then I strongly suggest waiting for replacement parts or fabricating the replacement part from scratch as opposed to re-bending. Safety first, second and last.

 

[Aukai]

That is definitely a concern, it is not load bearing, so I took it apart to see what it would take. I bridged it between risers on the fab table, then used 4 screw clamps along the length, and I used just enough heat that I could just barely keep my fingers on it, then evened it out with the clamps. It stayed straight when I relaxed the clamps, and the paint is still intact. It's up to the boss now.

 

[Nutfarmer]

In this case a new part is in order because of liability. I am sure that any repair you made will work just fine. We live in an excessive litigious society and you would put your self in a position of undue risk. It's sad but true. Wish their were more people like yourself. Things would sure work better in more ways than mechanical.