Sorry Andrew, I beg to differ. I too have bent plenty of ali U/C systems in my day. The last thing I would do is apply any heat to the stuff.

My rule of thumb is to cold bend the 6061 -T6 around a radius equal to the material thickness. To arrive at a former it is a relatively quick and easy job to file the required radius on the edge of a piece of scrap material of the same thickness.

Support the item to be bent firmly in the vise and clamp a solid piece of steel or similar on the leg to be bent to prevent unsightly dents that will occur if you beat the material direct.

If you try and bend it around a sharp edge you will break it for sure. Maybe not the first bend - more lilkely the last one! Sods law.

This bending system still applies using material up to 1/4" thick. It just needs a super heavy vise and a big hammer!

Good Luck

Alan W