Bead Roller upgrade

[caper150]

My wife got me a Harbour Freight bead roller for Christmas. I already knew from reading posts on other sites that it needed some upgrades for it to work right so I went out today and did the upgrades that it needed. I added 1 1/2" angle irn top and bottom and some 1/8" then I mounted it onto a stand I had hanging around, I still need to add more bracing to the bottom just to steady it, add more pegs to hold 6 more dies and then figure a way to power it instead of hand cranking it. Anyway here are a few pics.

 

[Vernmotor]

Dang gone that looks hevey duty ! I will have to take some pics of mine...

 

[Doc Holiday]

Wow dude ...what the heck did you do? What may i ask are you going to do with it? Seems a bit over kill.
Is the height adjustable?
I most times lurk. I will post pixs of my electric on engine stand type.with adjustable height so you can do big panels working at bench heights. Its been working for me building race cars and streetrods for 20 years....

 

[burger]

@Doc: Please post pics!

Here's a link to a nicely reworked HF Bead Roller on the HAMB.

 

[caper150]

Thanks for the kind words guy's. Yeah it may be a bit of overkill, but hey we all do things a little overkill sometimes, plus I didn't want to have to re-do it later. Vern and Doc yes please post up some pics I'd love to see what you've done.

 

[therealjakeg]

Wow! thanks hun for this pile of ****?!? Now I have to spend half of the day cutting, grinding and welding this pile up so that I can actually use it on more then 20 gauge steel... I know my dad has the same one and his twists and bends all over if you do anything heavier. Looks good gnarly work.

 

[Vicegrip]

I have the same POS. Thanks, now have to do the same. Short of a good fix such as shown and linked to I found that it works a bit better when I clamped 2 flats of 1/4 plate with a through bolt just shy of where the stock fit in the throat. It keeps it from bending side to side.

Funny about the good looking home made "old" one. Going to confuse the heck out of some tool nut many years from now.

 

[Vernmotor]

Ok quick pics of mine

 

[Doc Holiday]

I dont know why some of the guys on that Ham site do half of that stuff. A vintage tool guy knows at a glance its fake. WHY bother? O well i dont like much of the yard art on that site...I tend to like good stuff not lawn art or build something just to post it.
This my simple way...forget the rust i just never got around to paint LOL

Very adjustable so you only need 1 person to hold piece with the height set to the height of the table you decide to use.
Also uses a small motor to turn with a reostate foot pedal...it will go real slow.

 

[Vernmotor]

Doc We need more pic of that !

 

[65WILDKAT]

WHAT VERN SAID!

 

[frenchdakota]

hi everyone,

Nothing that goes to the moon, just a french version of the (surely !!!) same chinese beadroller....
I did it from scrap, except the VFD...
Motor is 65W, 220V (3 phases, of course !)
And finally, it works pretty well....
Enjoy

 

[rsanter]

Wow dude ...what the heck did you do? What may i ask are you going to do with it? Seems a bit over kill.
Is the height adjustable?
I most times lurk. I will post pixs of my electric on engine stand type.with adjustable height so you can do big panels working at bench heights. Its been working for me building race cars and streetrods for 20 years....

Not overkill
The HF bead roller is a flexi flyer as you get it. The mods made will greatly improve it. Many people go farther than he did.
My bead roller will make that look like a toy. Not bragging, just stating that for good quality repeatable work you need a unit that has little to no flex in it. The less the better.

Bob

 

[Keyblazer]

Here is my version....

Aluminum bearing blocks re-bushed with Phosphor Bronze 1" ID flanged bearings. Frame milled for adjustable shaft length.
3 x 2 stiffeners on the shaft side to minimize flex and clearance for curved panels. Adjustable Pivot with quick release.
Powered by the HF Pipe threader I use for my Tube Roller, with a HF Momentary foot swith, and HF speed controller that cuts the speed from 24rpm to 12rpm.
More to do, and more pics if anyone wants more info.

 

[skrap metal]

cool

 

[Keyblazer]

Makin Tooling... to make tooling...


1" radius roll die...

 

[Keyblazer]

To make this panel...

 

[PugetDude]

Nice lathe work.

 

[Keyblazer]

Nice lathe work.

Thanks, but it is hardly good... Im just trying real hard!

 

[Keyblazer]

Pretty much have my "Sheet Metal Station" up, stable and running now...

E-Wheel, Planishing Hammer, and beadroller...

My Buddies call it... "The Beast"...

 

[dffay]

Motor driven is nice but I left mine hand powered. For now anyway. But, besides taking the flex out of mine I replaced that gawdawful crank with a leftover ‘53 Ford steering wheel. Its flat and big in circumference and its slick in its ability to grab it from anywhere I’m oriented around the device and its perfect for very fine movement. The crank always seemed to be at the farthest point for reach and operation.