K1TTT wrote:
> Just be careful with heat on aluminum. Remember, a large part of the
> strength of the alloys that are commonly used for antennas comes from the
> heat treatment process. Heating too far could reduce the strength by up to
> 80%. See the basic info at
>
you should be able to heat it to the boiling point of water which will
expand Aluminum quite a bit. OTOH if the tubes are stuck, or actually
galled heating the outside will pretty much heat the inside one as
well.. The idea is to heat the outside tube QUICKLY and then pull them
apart...if possible. At the point where you stop applying heat, assuming
you didn't apply too much, the difference in tube diameters will be at
its greatest. As soon as you stop applying heat the outside will start
shrinking while the inside one is still expanding so you have to work
quickly.
I had, well still have, two boom sections that came from the factory
with the outside tube a bit under size. They went together , for a ways
before sticking. I've never been able to budge those two. I think they
have galled/bonded. I think I can make some linear cuts in the overlap
on the outside tube. to loosen it, or actually cut away some short
sections until I can get them apart. That will save all of the inside
tube and about 75% of the outside one. OTOH it's a lot of work to save a
little, but I'm loathe to throw away that T-6 tubing.
73
Roger (K8RI)
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6061_aluminium_alloy and compare the annealed
> (-O treatment) to the common -T6 that is used for antennas.
>
>
> David Robbins K1TTT
> e-mail: mailto:k1ttt@arrl.net
> web: http://www.k1ttt.net
> AR-Cluster node: 145.69MHz or telnet://dxc.k1ttt.net
>
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: jimlux [mailto:jimlux@earthlink.net]
>> Sent: Sunday, March 14, 2010 21:38
>> To: Tower and HF antenna construction topics.
>> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Help separating aluminum tubes
>>
>>
>> r young wrote:
>>
>>> I have, from an old antenna, where Penetrox was not used,
>>>
>> am aluminum tube
>>
>>> stuck inside another slotted tube. It is frozen tight.
>>> I sprayed some Liquid Wrench, but that probably doesn't go
>>>
>> all the way down.
>>
>>> What is the best technique for separating stuck aluminum
>>>
>> tubing without
>>
>>> breaking or twisting it?
>>>
>>>
>> You can try heating with a torch to make the outer tube
>> expand more than
>> the inner tube.
>> _______________________________________________
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