alfer® aluminium

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions – Do you have any questions about our products, applications or the material from which they were made? Then search through our FAQ area. You can of course also send us your question by email or by using our contact form. We will then handle your enquiry and reply to you immediately.

Where can I buy the products?
Our products can mainly be found in DIY stores. Not every DIY store has the entire alfer® assortment in store. Ask staff about our products if you cannot find them in the store. Staff will be glad to help you and will order the goods as a customer consignment. Only our model construction range can be found in our internet shop at www.alfer-shop.com.

I would like to connect two 23.5 mm square tubes at right angles. Are there angle pieces for this, which can be pushed into the square tubes - with adhesive if possible?
Our development department has designed corner and connection pieces for this purpose, some with moving joints. You will find this extensive "connect" system in the product area under "combitech® profiles".

Where can I get your alloy rim holders?
You can get our alloy rim holders in many DIY and hardware stores such as OBI, Praktiker, Toom, Hellweg and Hagebau. The alloy rim holder's Item no. is 01919.

We need Item no. 88271 step edging profile in a length of 105 cm and 4 of them. Is there any chance of finding this size, and if yes, how?
We only do the parquet profiles in 1,00 m and 2,00 m lengths.

I would like to stick laminate on my cellar stairs (ready-made steps) and therefore need angle trims for the steps. They should prevent slipping as much as possible on the relatively slippery steps and be reasonably priced (cellar stairs). As the stairs are spiraled, many steps are over a meter wide. Unfortunately I haven't found a good solution yet.
I noticed Item 15015 on your website. Is this trim made of soft PVC (anti-slip) and available to buy?
The wide grooved aluminium profile angles could also be a possibility. Can you give me more information, approximate prices and people to contact?
Although there are a few DIY stores with your products close by, unfortunately I cannot find the right ones, and the information provided by the salespeople is rather poor. Most of them only have 1 m sections, which are out of the question for me. 2.5 m would be a good size (2 steps).
The trim you are looking for is anti-slip and available to buy. Our recommended retail price for the 2 m profile is 3,49 Euros. The floor and room profiles are available in 1,00 m and 2,00 m lengths. On our website you will find useful tips about our parquet and laminate system clipstech®.

How are the profiles produced?
Aluminium profiles come from remelted press bolts in a press procedure. So that the aluminium (in bolt form) can be pressed by the tool, the press stud is first heated to approx. 580 °C - 600 °C. When the bolt reaches this temperature, it is pressed against a tool known as a die plate. Due to the pressure of the press, the aluminium heats up further to approx. 660 °C, which is the melting temperature of aluminium. When the aluminium reaches its melting point it is malleable and can be pressed by the die plate, in which the required aluminium profile cross-section (e.g. flat bar) is shaped.
Once the aluminium has left the tool, it goes onto the run-out table (usually 60 m long) where it cools down and is stretched, i.e. pulled straight. This is necessary because the profile curls up during the cooling process. After stretching, the profile is sawn to the required lengths and then put in a furnace to harden.
On newer presses the profiles are first placed in the furnace for hardening and then cut to the required length. The advantage of this is that the cut edges are not deformed.

Where does aluminium come from?
The raw material for aluminium extraction is bauxite - an ore of which 90% is found in tropical countries. The main mining areas are Australia, West Africa, Jamaica and Brazil. The metal is produced in a two-stage process. Firstly, aluminium hydroxide is extracted from the bauxite ore under pressure and heat in the so-called Bayer process. This is then turned into aluminium oxide (alumina) by an annealing process. The residue comes out as red mud, an environmentally neutral product which is deposited on landfills.
Aluminium oxide is the starting product for the second production stage: electrolysis. In this process, a molten mix of alumina and cryolite is separated into liquid aluminium and oxygen with the aid of electricity (approx. 13 kW/h/kg). Two tonnes of alumina produce around a tonne of prime aluminium.
The liquid aluminium is then poured into the respective molds - i.e. into ingots for us. Depending on the respective profile cross-section and additives (i.e. alloy; for us AlMgSi 0.5), these ingots are then melted into the respective press bolts from which our profiles are then pressed. The proportion of prime aluminium of the overall worldwide demand for aluminium is about 60 %.

How high is the payload or load bearing capacity of an aluminium profile?
No general statement can be made about this. The load bearing capacity of a profile must be worked out separately for every different application. The load or stress on a profile can be caused in various ways. Here we differentiate between tensile, compression, bending, buckling and torsion load (load on twisting).
Several of these loads can be exerted at the same time. You must also bear in mind how the load affects the profile. i.e.: Is a static (latent) or dynamic (changing) load taking place or is a notching effect occurring?
How a profile is fastened or installed must also be taken into consideration when making the calculation. e.g.: Is the profile only fastened at one end or at both ends (bridge), at which point is the force exerted etc.?
As a rule the material designated AlMgSi0.5 is used for the profiles from alfer®.

Tensile strength (Rm): 215 N/mm²
Yield point (Re): 160 N/mm²
Elongation at break (A5): 12 %

The maximum load of a profile can be worked out by taking into consideration these guide values, the profile cross-section and the relevant type of load. Those with less experience of such calculations should consult an expert (structural engineer).
We only recommend using our profiles in the DIY and hobby sector, by no means in vehicle or airplane construction.

Can I also order your goods direct?
Are you interested in the model construction range? You can order this range online.
The following applies to all other product lines: The basic requirement is to have a registered business.
If you are an end customer: our products are available in the usual DIY stores (e.g. Globus, OBI, Praktiker, Hornbach, Toom etc.) and in specialist retail shops. If a product or even the whole range is not in stock, the retailer will happily order the item for you.

Can I also order from abroad?
As long as we do not have any partners and you have a registered business, you can order direct. Please find our representatives abroad in the summary.

Which adhesive should I use for gluing metal sheet on wood?
A standard adhesive is suitable, and we have also found that double-sided adhesive tape works.

Which adhesive process can be used to join plastic profiles together?
Plastic profiles can be glued with a standard PVC glue available from hardware stores.

Are the plastic profiles resistant to light?
The plastic profiles are also resistant to light outdoors.

Does the hand cart come as a ready-made kit?
We supply the hand cart as a construction kit (Item 92002) or also pre-assembled (Item 92000). You can buy these from the DIY store.