Annealing J mould aluminium.

[rare00]

Has any one experience annealing J mould ??

I would rather anneal the J mould rather than cut grooves in it on bends, has any one done this, if so any tips ??


Thank you in advance.

[Franklin1]

If memory serves me correctly, it was one of the restoration tips in one of the Vintage Caravan magazines. Coat the J-mould with wet soap and then apply a blowtorch until the soap turns black. At that point the aluminium should be annealed. You obviously only have to do the sections that you want to bend, not the whole length.

If my memory is crap (which wouldn't surprise me ), somebody will come on and tell you how to actually do it, but I do remember it was something to do with soap and a blowtorch.

Try Googling it if you don't get any responses here.

cheers,
Al.

[stillgotit]

Set your oxy torch to a yellow carbonized flame, Not a hot blue flame, Pass the flame across the j mould
Not to close or it will go very black & don't hold the flame in one spot keep the flame moving or no more
j mould draw a match across your aluminium constantly until it draws a black line,when line appears it is
anealed . use the wood of the match not the head. PS; Try on a sample FIRST...iTS A FINE LINE BETWEEN
ANEALED OR MOLTEN NBG. GOOD LUCK
Cheers from Stillgotit [Michael].

[Deleted]

Jul 8, 2014 18:21:30 GMT 10 rare00 said:

Has any one experience annealing J mould ??

I would rather anneal the J mould rather than cut grooves in it on bends, has any one done this, if so any tips ??


Thank you in advance.

Hi rare00.
You don't mention which way on the j mould section you are trying to bend.
If you are just replacing a normal wall to roof strip that lays flat on the roof with the J sticking over the edge of the van wall. Then you can bend it without heating it down to about a 12" radius. No need to cut slots.

J mould comes in 4.1 metre lengths . So pre drill it at 300mm intervals.. get the van out in the yard.. ( check for overhead powerlines ) and start fixing it from the lower front edge of the van down near the drawbar , and just apply light pressure to it to pull it in to the radius of the van.. let the entire length stick up in the air as you are doing the fixing..fix each screw as you go... no need cut slots in it.. unless you are trying to bend it sideways against the "J" shape.... that would be difficult.

J mould use to be made of more maluable aluminium years ago and was much easier to work with.. I have played with old lengths of it and it was a breeze to work with. New stuff is more "brittle"
Reddo

[Roehm3108]

Did someone once say that you could still buy the softer J moulding??? I'm think perhaps it may have been JBJ???

[penguin]

Here's my method: I use the carburizing flame to put black soot over the sections I need annealed. Once the aluminium is black I gently pass the torch over(with a normal flame). When the black soot burns off the alloy is annealed - but stillgo tit is right, a little too much heat and you'll have a shiny puddle on your floor.

[shesgotthelook]

We didn't have to anneal or heat the J mould on our latest resto. It went round the corners quite smoothly. It was purchased from Metaland.

[brenten]

you can also rub a black texta over the alum and then with a neutral flame burn the texta of that will do the same thing.brenten

[rare00]

The J mould ive bought is very hard to bend, to answer your question Reddo, flat on the roof, J on the side of the van.

I'm almost at the stage of fitting the mould and haven't tried to bend it yet.



Thank you one and all for your input, greatly appreciated.

[seeshell]

Hi All

When we put the J trim on our van last Christmas, we had searched for the more malleable type that JBJ referred to. It turns out it is no longer made, but the type you can buy from Capral or whatever company is close to you comes in a T1 rating, which is the softest. Drilling first, fixing on, and using a hammer with a plastic or hard rubber end, we were able to bend it around the curves without too much trouble. The issue to watch out for is that it wants to twist as you work it on to the van. That meant doing a bit of "pursuading" to keep the flat of the J flat to the van.

Also you haven't mentioned it - but think about something like butyl tape under the J to self seal where the screws go in.

Final feedback from our trial was be careful too about the stress on any bondwood when you are putting it on. If your roof is made of old ply it can be brittle and delaminate as you put your screws in, or if they aren't long enough to bite hard while you are stressing the J around the curves. Once it's in place it is fine - but might bear watching.

Cheers
Seeshell

[mibosa]

I have previously removed the roof J mould from the non-door side of my van and it too was like one of the window frames, siliconned to hell with whatever substances and resulting in it needing to be replaced due to the damage I caused in it's removal. I would prefer to not damage the door side J mould when I go to remove it so does anyone please have any suggestions on how to remove a J mould and somehow getting through all the silicone and other glues etc without distorting the J mould? It is bad enough that I will need to make a new J mould for the other side and I could do without having to do two of them. Thanks in advance, Bob

[mibosa]

I will try again! Can anyone please offer me some advice on how to remove J moulding without causing damage due to the silicones etc used at the last time of attaching it?

Thank you,

Bob

[Geoff & Jude]

hi bob

silicon really is a bugger to remove and as you found, often causes damage when items stuck down with it need to be removed.

i'm certainly no expert but you might be able to separate the j mould with minimum damage by "sawing" it off using fishing line.

manoeuvre a suitable length of fishing line under (crosswise) the start of the j mould, then, holding the line at each end, use a sawing motion together with a pulling motion to progressively cut through the silicon bond. (gloves might help to stop cutting off a finger or two).

you'll need to judge how much "pull" is required as you go along.

i'd start using a fine fishing line and go stronger if the finer one breaks too often.

it should separate the mould without damaging it.

keep an eye on the bodywork to make sure it isn't being damaged.

petrol or turps should remove any leftover silicon.

geoff 'n jude

[firefighter]

G'day Bob

You could also try removing any left over silicone with eucalyptus 

Bunning's also sell selleys silicone remover

www.bunnings.com.au/selleys-375g-silicone-remover_p1232412

cheers

Geoff

[mibosa]

Thanks to geoff'n jude and geoff for your responses. I will actually utilise both your suggestions as I have nothing to lose rather than damage my j mould.

Disappointing that there haven't been any more responses to my plea for help as I am sure there are many people who have encountered my predicament or have the skills to offer assistance, but possibly shouldn't be such a surprise considering how some of the members do or don't assist others on this forum.  I suppose if you aren't in the clique, you aren't in the clique! Oh well, I will battle on! Regards, Bob.

[margra]

I had a lot of problems trying to get J mould that would bend and found that some smaller outlets got there supplies from China and it was softer than some others. I have some real drama but it seems that the usual stuff is far to hard to bend.I also used a multi tool to cut between body and j mould and this made things easy with care and the correct tips to suit the job. Good luck Graham

[mibosa]

Thank you Graham for your input. It would seem that people on this forum each have their ow problem with their vans and mine is a previous own going berserk with silicone or similar. I have had this problem with one roof side J mould (which I ruined) and also a window frame. Fortunately Steve & Julie came to my rescue with a new window/frame and I will tackle anything but am really not looking forward to making a new j mould to suit my roofline and the end curves and joins. I would like to be driving through the country and see a desolate van with a perfect j mould which I could could acquire or one on gumtree, but I don't think I am that lucky. I itend to go ultra slow removing my next one, combine with what you have said and the other two hints as mentioned above. But thanks again. Regards, Bob.

[margra]

My vans are old and I have put them together with what little money I have. The main thing that I learnt the hard way is to seal UNDER the j mould where the side meets the roof. There are a few products but one by KBS in NSW they make a POR15 type product and another by NORGLASS google them. Just make sure the sides/roof are sealed and you will not have to rely on the j mould. I buggered up and got a water leak.
Graham

[mibosa]

Okay Graham, thanks again for that advice. There have been a number of recommendations of product to use and I have all intentions of sealing underneath all exterior joins. I don't have a problem taking my time and using lots of whatever product I end up choosing, albeit going to be expensive, so that hopefully I don't get that mysterious little pin-hole water leak and ruining all my internal work that I have conducted.

Regards,

Bob.

[annienpete]

Annealed bunnings j curve ok with soap and blow torch. Worked up length of aluminium, ie once end heated and blackened soap it progressed quite quickly. Some uneven curving around 20mm ply moulding though. Only used timber to press into aluminium. Some short cylindrical pieces. Some wedges. Have sought help from a steel welding chap w access to English wheel and roller. Will share outcome. Old ribs very bent and torn. One of the hardest bits in our van rebuild. Annie

[mibosa]

Thanks Annie, I haven't been game to try it just yet. But should be soon, as aluminium polishing is getting a bit boring. Regards, Bob.

[annienpete]

Not good news from steel chap. Can't use roller. Can't get fold and curve done professionally. So back to buying more j curve, annealing, bending it around my thick moulds and picking the best 4 curves as final outcomes.... well if I prang the thing I have the skills to fix it! Annie

[adamcharch]

Hi if you live in or near melbourne you can buy easy bending j mould from Capral, it has a shallower j section so it won't kink, it is possible to bend around a 200mm diameter circle unaided.

[JBJ]

Hi,

I've always been able to buy soft J mould from our local aluminium suppliers. All I did was ask for it, & tell them I didn't want the hard stuff.

JBJ

[mibosa]

Thank you people for those contributions. Regards, Bob.