What are the benefits of aluminum?

Aluminum is one of the most readily available metals. In addition, this metal has several properties that make it a great choice for producing extruded aluminum bar. Here’s why:

Strength-to-weight ratio: Aluminum is considered one of the materials with the highest strength-to-weight ratios because even though it’s very light, it’s also durable. That’s why the automotive industry relies on aluminum to keep passengers safe in the event of a crash.

Machinability: Because aluminum is lightweight, it’s easy to machine and can be made into almost any shape. The downside is that you’ll need to make sure you’re working with a company that has experienced machinists, as inexperienced workers can result in inaccurate cuts or improper handling. Industries such as medical, food, beverage, and marine rely on the metal to create products because of its ease of forming and cost-effectiveness.

Corrosion Resistance: There’s a reason aluminum outperforms steel in a variety of industrial applications. Aluminum is extremely resistant to corrosion, thanks to the natural oxide coating that forms on its surface. The marine industry uses aluminum to build ship hulls for this very reason. However, aluminum’s versatility goes far beyond that. Aluminum can also be painted, anodized, lacquered, or otherwise treated to further reduce its corrosion potential.

Availability: Aluminum is the third most abundant element on Earth, after oxygen and silicon. Not only is it easily accessible, it also has the rare ability to be infinitely recycled without losing any of its properties. Because of this, aluminum is considered by many to be a “green” metal.

What Types of Aluminum Bar Shapes Can You Get?

Aluminum bar shapes come in a wide variety of shapes, including round bars, rectangular bars, manifold bars, hexagonal bars, and even tubes and pipes. If that’s not enough, we also offer custom shapes, hollow bars, and profiles. The possibilities are nearly endless! Considering the tolerances, sizes, and foot-pounds available, the product range can seem dizzying. Without a helpful guide, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. That’s where we can help, and with our reputation for exceptional customer service, rest assured we’ll help you find the best aluminum extrusion for your application.

Our aluminum bar products include:

Aluminum Round Bars

Our precision aluminum round bars reflect our commitment to providing quality service and products. Due to our factory’s stringent quality control standards, our customers receive only the highest quality aluminum round bars. Industries that purchase our precision round bars include rail, aerospace, and trucking.

Aluminum Square Bars

Our aluminum bar products in stock include aluminum square bars. We offer sizes as small as 0.25 inches and as large as 6.0 inches square. All stock from 0.875 inches and above is held to tight positive side tolerances and meets a variety of quality specifications. If you’re in the aerospace, construction, medical, or automotive industries and need aluminum square bars, look no further. Let our talented sales experts assist you in your aluminum square bar purchase.

Aluminum Rectangular Bars

The rectangular bars we stock, also known as flat bars, are made from 6061 alloy. Considered by many to be the “all-purpose” alloy, 6061 alloy is used in a wide range of industries including industrial, aerospace, medical, automotive, marine, and more. We offer aluminum rectangular bars in sizes as small as 0.250” x 0.500” and as large as 6.0” x 8.0”. As with the square bar products mentioned earlier, nearly all rectangular bars over 1.0” are produced to a variety of quality specifications and are forward extruded only. Not only can we fulfill a wide variety of spot orders with our ample inventory, but we can also order special lengths, large quantities, different alloys and conditions, and even custom designed profiles.

What is ACC-U-BAR™ or Manifold Aluminum Bar?

If you are looking for consistency, short setup times, and better machinability, this bar is the one for you. Ranging in size from 0.875” square to 6.0” x 8.0” rectangular, these bars are the thicker variety in our stock. For a bar to be "manifold quality," it must have tolerances for flatness, twist, and straightness that exceed the tolerances of the Aluminum Association. While manifold quality aluminum bar can have plus or minus dimensional tolerances, standard practice is to only offer manifold quality aluminum bar products that are extruded to the plus side. These products are used extensively in fixtures, hydraulic and pneumatic equipment, mechanical equipment, and more.

Precision Sawing of Aluminum Bars

Our state-of-the-art facility is recognized as one of the finest in the Midwest with over 90 years of business. We can saw extrusions to +/-.005" and bandsaws to +.030/-000". We use only the highest quality aluminum and custom saw blades to ensure precision results every time. If you need aluminum bar cut to length, we have it.