My roller/bender

[AZCoyote]

Thought I would post my roller over in this forum as well.

The wheel was the first project..










This is 5/8 solid bar rolled with little effort. I have rolled 1/2 and 3/4 box tube into circles. The smallest was 7 inches

[emoseman]

What are you using for rollers?

[AZCoyote]

The outer roller is a piece of 1.75" pipe with an approx 3/8" wall. The inner pipe fits snugly inside and it has a 1/2" ID. The shaft is obviously 1/2"

Good looking roller AZ. Very heavy duty looking and nice design.

[Jammer]

Look's great, but how do you adjust it to roll for different diameters. I see the bottle jack underneath but can't figure out if that is the adjustment or not and if it is how does it operate.

[AZCoyote]

The jack sits on a piece of I beam that is connected to the drive roller up each side. As you apply pressure with the jack, it pulls the drive wheel down. The more pressure, the tighter the diameter.

[Sandy]

AZ,

Good looking roller. Tell me if you can. And if I can ask this right. This is a tough question to explain with my limited verbal skills.

It 's obvious that the two outer rollers (in-feed and out-feed) are spaced maybe a couple inches away from the center roller. Are there any advantages or disadvantages with having those rollers closer IN or even farther OUT from the center roller?

Also is there any reason for the top roller to go lower than a point even with the tops of the two outside rollers?

I guess a way of asking is, if you built another one right now, would you change anything about the roller deminsions/spacing?

Confused yet?

Thanks,

[AZCoyote]

Hi Sandy,

Your first question: Yes there is an advantage to moving them in and out. The closer you move them to the center roller, the tighter (smaller) complete circle you can roll. (the closer the better)The wider the rollers, the easier it is to roll a nice arch. If you notice, the outer bearings are out wider than the center roller bearings. They tuck under the support for the center roller. I did this to get the three rollers as close as possible.

Second: YES, but not by much. My rollers will all sit level unless you have a piece of material between them. As you put pressure on your workpiece (mostly with thin stock) the top roller can go below the tops of the outer rollers.

Third: I wouldn't change anything. I am SO happy with this roller. It works better than I hoped for. It rolls very smooth, takes little effort, and produces perfect circles. I really like the pressure for the center roller coming from below the bender. There is nothing to get in the way of the work piece.

Take care...

[Main]

Are there any advantages or disadvantages with having those rollers closer IN or even farther OUT from the center roller?

Not sure about the advantages of spacing the rollers at different distances but you could build an adjustable one and experiment. This is homebuilt that I use and just leave it set up the way it is.

[AZCoyote]

Main, nice design. Simple and functional.

I'm curious, since your roller pressure comes from two seperate sides, does creating even pressure become a problem? Material wanting to take off to one side because there might be more pressure coming from one side?

[Main]

I'm curious, since your roller pressure comes from two seperate sides, does creating even pressure become a problem?

The short answer, No.
Lets say I was rolling a piece of 1/4" x 3" stainless and wanted to start with even pressure. I lift the top roller and place a short piece of 1/4 " stock across the two bottom rollers at one end. Then do the same to the other end. Drop the top roller until it rest on the two short pieces. Spin the screws down just so they touch the top roller. Crank the handle to spit the shims and insert the piece I'm going to roll. Tighten screws evenly and roll. Repeat for desired shape.

Does the piece ever have a tendency to wander? Sometimes, but it's usually not that critical. If it bothers me I just tighten down on the high side.

[Sandy]

Quote:
Third: I wouldn't change anything. I am SO happy with this roller. It works better than I hoped for. It rolls very smooth, takes little effort, and produces perfect circles. I really like the pressure for the center roller coming from below the bender. There is nothing to get in the way of the work piece.
===============================

Thanks,

Why fool with something that just feels right? I like the design, clean up topside. and it's a little more than just a ring roller. You could roll fairly wide (12") sheets too.

[Sandy]

Main,

I like your design too. Looks like it could be put down and under for storage. It's another one that could be used for more than just bars and straps.

Heck you could roll a BBQ shell with that one. One thing about both of these, a guy can get a picture in mind and start collecting parts and store them up for winter projects.

[ironhead]

I was curious as to where you can purchase the pillow bearings as well as the diameter of the pipe that you stated that inserts in to the 1.75 x 3/8ths pipe

[AZCoyote]

Many places sell pillow bearings. McMaster Carr, Grainger, etc. Just make sure they are rated for high pressure.

I got the pipe at a local shop in AZ. I would just hit the yellow pages and ask for thick walled tube/pipe.

Good luck!

[dlkkmk]

hey i saw this and just had to build one.
i did add some heavy duty springs to the center roller that lift it up
to make it easier to insert material

i have all kinds of scrap laying around that has now been bent up
from angle to 1 1/2 tubing

havent actually built anything useful besides the wheel tho but its been fun

[AZCoyote]

I have received some PM's for the photos. I changed servers and the old ones were lost. I would have edited the original but there seems to be some kind of time limit on editing. Can't see any possible value in that???

Anyway, my roller has been re-designed with 2" pillow blocks and 2" thick pipe. The drive wheel is now 24" in diameter.

The wheel was the first project...








2 ton bottle jack



This piece of 5/8 solid bar rolled with very little effort..

[MicroZone]

Looks good, looks like it works quite well !

[Captainfab]

That looks really good AZ. I started building a ring roller some time ago, basically a larger version of the Shopoutfitters one and with power. Then I started searching the web for ideas from what others have built...now I can't decide what I want to do

Yours is unique and one of the better ones I've seen How wide of mat'l can you roll? and thickness?

[Arc_It]

I like your design. If I understand it correctly -- if you removed the bottle jack the center roller and its attachments would slide freely up and down guided by a couple of pins on each side to keep it straight up and down. Is this right?

[Cebby]

That's a nice design. I've been searching for something to build and never came across this thread before...

[stomper4x4]

nice simple design, have been looking a roller designs to complement my jd2 benders, and this one is now at the top of my list of choises...

[coachgeo]

edited

Where the !@#$%^& is the post delete button

[coachgeo]

Originally Posted by Arc_It

I like your design. If I understand it correctly -- if you removed the bottle jack the center roller and its attachments would slide freely up and down guided by a couple of pins on each side to keep it straight up and down. Is this right?

I too don't understand what your jack is pressing/pulling against? Everything looks fixed now.

OH wait I see now.. the jack is sitting on a hanging base with a fixed top to press against. Extending the jack forces the base downward. This base hangs from the central roller thus extending the jack pulls the roller downward into the metal being bent. More force, more bend.

[coachgeo]

So why did you decide to NOT give adjustability to the two outer rollers? Could see addimg more holes in your frame that would allow you to spread them further apart.