What aluminium sizes do you regularly use in your workshop?

[aytactParticipant @aytact]

A quick question for everyone involved in machining, CNC, DIY engineering or general workshop projects.

I’m interested in finding out which aluminium sizes people regularly buy and what dimensions they find most useful.

For example:

• What thicknesses do you use most often?
• Which widths do you find most practical?
• Do you generally buy flat bars, square bars, rectangular sections or sheet/plate?
• Are there particular aluminium grades you prefer (6082, 6061, 5083, etc.)?
• Do you usually buy standard lengths, or would shorter cut-to-size pieces be more useful?

We manufacture and sell our own CNC machine along with workshop accessories such as custom-sized M5/M6 threaded 15 mm thick 6082 fixture plates.

We’re considering expanding our range to include aluminium stock in commonly used dimensions, potentially with a cut-to-length ordering option.

Rather than simply guessing what might be useful, I’d much rather hear from you who actually work with this material.

Thank you

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

How long is a piece of string… or aluminium?

Model-engineering tends to use a variety of basic profiles and sections, none very large, and sometimes bought as trade off-cuts and production bar-ends, even if we have to machine them down to size from stock width. If we need occasional, large chunks we usually buy billets sawn from stock bar.

The most common material we use is mild-steel. Aluminium is relatively rare in the hobby.

 

Household and vehicle DIY work not “model-engineering” as such may use more aluminium, proportionately.

 

Commercial users buy what is appropriate for their products.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Most in the hobby won’t use that much alumininm. Although those that make IC engines are probably likely to use it more than the traditional Loco/Traction Engine maker and even they they may well be using aluminium castings  not barstock unles sit is 2014. If yours is the C*** X1 then again an overhead gantry with woodworking router as the spindle is not the best machine for model engineering so you may be better off asking on the maker type forums.

I also feel our members are more likely to buy the raw material and make their own fixture plates, ideally from cast aluminium tooling plate not something like 6082 T6 . Then again most would want something less likely to ding than aluminium so just use the tee slots and decent size clamping not the spindly clamps you see on so many router type machines where cutting forces are low.

Myself I buy what I need for a project if I don’t have any in stock and that can range from small diameters to large diameter billets, flat bar, sheet, block or plate usually 6082-T6 but sometimes 2014

[HollowpointParticipant @hollowpoint]

I don’t use aluminium that often, most of the things I make are made from BMS. That said, I think that the most useful sizes will translate across various different materials. It’s very common to see metric equivalents of Imperial sizes in engineering. Probably because old plans and diagrams have been converted.

For me.

10, 12, 16, 20 & 25mm (3/8, 1/2, 5/8, 3/4 & 1 inch.) Rounds

3, 6, 10 & 12mm (1/8, 1/4, 3/8 & 1/2 inch) Flats

12, 16, 20, & 25mm (1/2, 5/8, 3/4 & 1 inch) Square

 

[Thor 🇳🇴Participant @thor]

I too tend to use BMS for most of my projects, because I get much of it as free off-cuts. For Aluminium I use the 6xxx series for the most part, dimensions similar to Hollowpoint’s metric.

Thor

[AStroudParticipant @astroud]

I tend to buy 300mm lengths and for stock like to have 10mm dia, 25 mm dia and some 50mm dia. Checking my aluminum store I also have 10mm x 25mm flat bar and some 10mm thick plate, bought as 300mm squares.

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