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You can heat the area to be annealed to the point a toothpik will leave a black mark like a pencil line. That will anneal it.

If you do a Google search on annealing Aluminium you will find it is a completely different process to annealing any other material, and actually has the opposite affect - it makes it stronger and harder.

What you do when you heat it quickly is to remove the annealing and return it to its original soft , weak state, and it is then unfit for use unless you have the skill, knowledge and equipment to repeat the original annealing, or heat soaking, process.

Extruded sections are no different, they gain their strength from the temper, not cold working, which is why the temper is usually given, T6 being the usual for structural alloys.

Equipo5, have you belted that thing straight yet?

Um er. Not yet!

I have now.



Thanks Mogas. The tube was not aluminium otherwise it would have to stay bent given my expertise. The nearest thing to its diameter was an old chisel handle which after heating up the insert with the heat gun I was able to roll the dint out. Well most of it.

Thanks for everyone's input.

regards
Ian

A fine job.

Yes. A really good piece of work. Be careful. You don't want to do this again!!