# Forging aluminum like iron?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forging-aluminum-like-iron/345527>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 21, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forging-aluminum-like-iron/345527 "2006-02-21T21:03:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forging-aluminum-like-iron/345527/21 "2006-02-23T07:09:07Z")

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> [@AndrewL](#):
>
> Steel is fairly easy to forge because it goes from solid to liquid gradually as it heats. Steel starts to soften long before it actually goes liquid, so a blacksmith can maintain a piece of steel at a temperature where it’s soft enough to form yet still stiff enough to hold its shape.
> 
> Aluminum tends to go from hard to liquid much more quickly; the temperature range where it’s softened enough to form yet still stiff enough to hold that form is much smaller, and a smith trying to hammer hot aluminum into shape is going to have to be very careful or he’ll end up turning his workpiece into a puddle. With aluminum, if you want a complex shape, it’s usually much easier to cast it in a mold rather than try to forge it. It’s not impossible to forge aluminum, but much trickier without precise temperature control.

So, typically, aluminum is cold forged.

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**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forging-aluminum-like-iron/345527/22 "2006-02-23T12:09:42Z")

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An early use of aluminum is as the pyramidon (top-most piece) on The Washington Monument. At the time, aluminum was something of a precious metal.

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**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forging-aluminum-like-iron/345527/23 "2006-02-23T14:42:24Z")

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> [@Hail Ants](#):
>
> An early use of aluminum is as the pyramidon (top-most piece) on The Washington Monument. At the time, aluminum was something of a precious metal.

That’s an understatement. At Napoleon’s table, ordinary guests ate off gold plates. Special guests ate off aluminum.

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**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forging-aluminum-like-iron/345527/24 "2006-02-23T14:45:19Z")

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> [@Rocketeer](#):
>
> That’s an understatement. At Napoleon’s table, ordinary guests ate off gold plates. Special guests ate off aluminum.

Um, thinking about that a bit more, I think that was Napoleon III.

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