mitered aluminum joint

[dbb80]

ive got an "L" shaped aluminum cross section. need to build a square frame. the miters can have no evidence of welding after paint and need to look perfect

so we got a sample corner that the customer expects us to match. it looks like the aluminum was scored and then formed to be the shape. like they had a sheet of aluminum and put a series of \/ style grooves in it that when bent form a perfect mitered "L" cross section mitered joint. how the heck did they do it?

there is no welding on this sample and no evidence of glue. does anybody know how its done?

(if needed i can try to snap a pic of it)

 

[SnTMan]

dbb80, way back when I worked at the boat windshield place, they made the frames from aluminum extrusion. They were precisely cut to form the mitre (my job). They then welded the sections together by putting small blocks of aluminum inside the extrusion and welding the three pieces together inside the extrusions. (The job of, among others, the first female welder I ever met.)

If cut properly, only a very tight seam was visible, and if welded properly no discoloration was visible.

I have no idea how the sample was made (maybe laser cut?), but could you do something like this?

Regards,

Mike

 

[adkr]

Hello dbb80,

A picture would help.

Just a couple of quick questions

How big is the frame?

What is the thickness of material that is being used?

We did a similar sort of exercise with luggage racks that were made out of aluminum, similar to what has been described by SnTMan. Those techniques worked well for a semi-closed shape where you can hide the fastener but for a simple L-shaped angle, not so much.

The mitre cuts were made with a liquid cooled cold cut saw. That particular saw did a really nice job. I'll have to think a little bit on who the manufacturer of the saw was.

Kyle