Custom bead rolling....lotsa pic's

i gotta ask, how are you guys getting such sharp lines when two corners meet, and you
gotta switch directions????

 

It's really just about practice. There's no trick to making sharp corners. If I want a sharp corner, I just roll up to the corner and stop about 1/8" short, release the tension on the rolls, rotate the panel 90-degrees, crank the dies back down again about 1/8" past the corner, and roll the next side. The stop/start points are what's critical, and that's what comes via trial and error. The same is true for pointed flame tips, only you're rotating the panel 180-degrees and you need to move it over by an amount equal to your die offset so that you don't crush the other bead.

It's also possible to turn quite sharp corners without even releasing the dies. I can do a 1/4" radius turn without any problem, but again, that takes lots of practice. Also, it really helps to have a powered bead roller and a table to support your workpiece. That way, both hands are free to guide the panel.

 

Here's a door panel I just finished for a glass 32 roadster that is being built for the salt. Satin black finish is badass!






Quality control inspector!

 

Very cool.
Gives a new meaning to Tuck 'n' Roll I guess.

 

Wow nice thread

 

That has got to be the coolest bead work I've ever seen!! I been wanting to try it myself, now I have to! I had no idea that one could do all that with on of those things.

 

WOW I am not one to be impressed easily but that tin work is awesome.

 

Heres some of the other tinwork in the car, it still has the mylar on it so it looks a little funky.

 

Thanks, Tinman............I bet the Mylar on there while you work it makes it dream to maneuver through the dies..........

 

Made this as a bithday present for Royalshifter.....

 

Pretty Sweet Kev!!!

Yeah its a life saver, most of what I do uses the prefinished stuff and surface damage during the construction of the piece means its trash!

 

Man, I wish I could do a SMALL fraction of the stuff you guys do with a bead roller. I can finally (by cheating) do a straight line

Dan

 

boy....to all who posted their work, unreal talent.

i cant get over the one by bigwig with the gasser lettering, very impressive, couldnt imagine pulling that off.

also diggin kiwi's tin work, the clay smith door panels are awesome, as is the crows logo

glad i stumbeld on this thread



skull

 

Jeez, Kev...most people would struggle to draw that chassis with a pen let alone roll it, beautiful work mate.!!!

 

Here's some more of mine from the past few months.

Driver of the Year award for a VW forum that I sponsor:




Various VW door panels:














Some wall art:








A 3-sided wind block for the "Still Smokin' It" BBQ team. Approx 48" wide.

 

Awesome work Ric.

 

Tin that is cool as heck. That roll and pleat is sharp idea.

The VW stuff above is on a whole new level...... Is that done with a bead roller or running a template through a wheel or ?????? I can't see how that is possible with a bead roller and those tight lettering radius.

How flat are the panels when you guys are done with them? Do you put a bend or radius into them 1st???

WOW!!

 

Holy crap! That's a lot of bead rolling on one panel.

How in the heck do you plan something like that out? Do you happen to have any in-process pics of any of the complex designs to show how you got from flat sheet to a freakin' work of art?

 

Yes, it's all done with a bead roller. The tight radius for lettering and such took me a long time to master. The best tip I have for someone trying to do complex beading (other than the obvious of practice, practice, practice) is to make a table to hold your workpiece. That way you aren't having to try and hold up the panels and can concentrate solely on following the lines.

The panels with regular step rolling in them will stay pretty flat. The ones with pleats or diamonds want to curl up somewhat, but I just flatten the panel back out gently across my leg after all the bead rolling is done.

Yes, that one took me longer than any other one I've done yet, for sure.

I don't really have any in progress shots of the crazy ones. I have some more to do within the next week or so that has some text in the design, so I'll try to document it.

 

Yes, I'll post some later tonight. I have them at home.

 

Wow truly amazing work! Can you post up some close up pitures of the panels? Everything I have tried to do ends up really scratched up from the rollers. How are you getting around this "problem"?

 

I use delrin rollers not steel on aluminum, saves a lot of marking, also make sure the all the corners on you rdies are lightly rounded, that saves some marking as well. But the biggest thing to stop marking is a protective coat. All of the stuff I use has a mylar coating. If your alum doesnt have a coating talk to your local sign maker and get some transfer tape and cover it yourself.

 

I get my sheets with PVC on them, then peel off the PVC after all the work is done. Otherwise, use nylon or delrin rolls. Mittler Bros and Pro-Tools make most of their dies either way - steel or nylon.

 

Damn that is so cool. I think I know what my next garage tool is going to be!

 

How'd you train your bead roller to do all that great artwork? Mine must be really dumb.

 

wow i'm glad this old post came back. i never seen it. great stuff

 

Threaten it with a hammer.

 

Wow, again, guys; amazing work! Not just fine craftsmanship, but creative and artistic,
as well.....

 

Here's what mine looks like. The table is 36x36 inches, so it easily supports something big like a door panel. There are outriggers under the table that connect it to the bead roller and support the right side plus 2 legs that support the left side. Everything DZUS's on so I can take it off if I need to.

The bead roller itself is a Pro-Tools machine that I have cut apart and lengthened the throat on to 42". I use this one for all my fancy work in the aluminum. I also have a Mittler Bros 36" machine for the heavy stuff.

The white stuff under the bead roller table is my raw material with the PVC (white plastic stick-on sheeting) still on it.