In a former life I worked in metal fabrication, and I've built many things with aluminum. Heating aluminum to less than critical annealing (don't rember the exact temp) temperature won't help, and in some alloys will actually harden the aluminum when it cools. The quick and dirty method for annealing aluminum, such as to bend 6061 pipe for handrail, is this:Gigapod said:Anyways I have been checking the formability of aluminium and it seems that warming it up a little before hammering/forming can't hurt.
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Ignite your rosebud with acetylene only, lots of black smoke, and quickly apply the flame to the area where the bend is to be performed. Once the area is blackened, bring up a neutral flame and heat he the blackened area until the soot disappears, great care is required here, as this is fairly close to melting temp, and there is no glowing redness. Now cool the heated area as quickly as possible with cold water, a air siphon sprayer works great for this. Now you can bend your part as far as you want.
This is accepted practice, and the only way I know of to make work and age hardened aluminum malleable, and not the kind of thing you want to do to the face of your receiver