bead roller baileigh vs mittler bros.

thinking of buying a powered drive bead roller. i know baileigh and mittler bros are pretty much the best. but which one has the best reviews? and just do the job better. in a perfect world i would like to try both units side by side but that most likely wont happen any time soon. i plan on going with the 36 in throat, cant see any where i would really need to be able to reach 4 ft into a panel with the 48 in mittler

also does any one know of any warranties with either machine?

 

Become an Alliance member and you'll get a discount from Baileigh.

 

deleted double post

 

I have a Mittler Bros bead roller and have no complaints, I also have Baileigh tools which perform as stated by the manufacture.

I think you would be fine either way

As far as Baileigh goes, contact Shane from Baileigh @ shenderson@bii1.com
He'll have all the info your looking for as far as warranty, price, options, etc

you more than welcome to come check out my Mittler bros if you like

 

have a Mittler, it needs more power from the motor. other than that its a good machine.

 

I have a Mittler and can say you can't go wrong with one. The Baileigh one looks good as well. As a matter of fact they look very similar to one another.

 

I agree, needs a better motor and footpedal. I stepped on the pedal wrong and it broke soon after I got it. FED

 

We have sold a ton of the BR-18E bead rollers here on the HAMB. $995 for machine, motor, pedal, stand, roll holder and 1 roll set. With 1 year warranty and unlimited tech support from yours truly.

Mittler and ours both have 3/4" shafts, so the tooling is interchangable as well.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

fyi, the depth becomes a bigger issue when you turn a corner and have to rotate a long piece inside the machine. My machine is 24-26" throat and i have to do some careful planning, most cases you can do it with the bulk of the metal on the outside so depth isn't an issue but i have compromises when i do a firewall etc and i have a hard time accepting that.
The other point that was brought up is about the power of the motor, i prefer not to have a very powerful motor as you give up a lot of control - a big motor will control you as it will get ahead of you and you'll ruin a lot of sheet metal. I do a lot with 18ga and i crank it down as tight as possible and the foot contoller just inches it thru fast enough so you don't get bored and slow enough that you have accuracy.
I don't have either Mittler bros nor Bailiegh but know they are fine machines.
I been turning perfectly good sheet metal into scraps for 20+years and thought i'd give you benefit of my experience, good luck oj

 

I've got the mittler roller i have no complaints with it, good machine,but baileigh has some great equipment also, if i had to do it over i would have went with baileigh just for the fact there with the H.A.M.B

 

do you guys think the 36 in. throat is large enough? i keep thinking about it and i cant see where i would need something deeper, but you never know what will come through the door some day. i am leaning toward the baileigh machine at this point

 

I haven't run into a situation yet that needed more. Sometimes you need to take a few minutes and plan it out.

 

i haven't found a need yet for a lager one, 36 inches is plenty deep for most anything you will come across

 

Right on

Check out the video! http://www.bii1.com/videos/bead-roller-br18E.php

 

i like for them to have keys to keep the dies from spining uder a heavy load the mittler doesnt have them dont know about baileigh

 

Heavy load? haven't had mine slip with 16gauge on my Mittler, which is the heaviest it does. I'm not sure what kind of load you'd have to put on them for them to slip.

 

I have one of the big Mittlers 48 or whatever it was 10 years ago. No problems at all, it could use a tad more power when using on 16ga or stainless but just take you time onthe big beads. At that time the togle switch from forward to reverse was on the motor plate....quite far away on th big machine....so you reall yhad to reach to switch, so i relocated the switch to the 'user end' . Very happy with it, the powder coating is flaking off at the corners but I can live with that. ...and no never needed anything bigger..
Hans

 

x2 never a problem with slipping rolls.....ever.

 

A 36" machine will go to the middle of a 6' piece of sheet metal... that's pretty damn big...

 

Thanks Mike!

The HAMB forum demands pictures of your first project!

 

i have alot of big dies and when you take a big bite the shafts spin inside the die on my works mittler i hav a old jd2 with keys on the dies never have a issue

 

Mike!!!!!

Let's see some bead rolling art!

 

still messing around with it lol i will post up some pics soon though

 

Mike!

 

Thankful for the Alliance. I was just about to order a 36" Mittler Bro. bead roller then stumbled across this post. The fact that the dies are interchangeable, the foot pedal looks sturdier and that the Baileigh looks a bit beefier then the Mittler sealed the deal! As well as Shane being a HAMB alliance member!

Shane, I sent you a PM but I see you've been away. Talk to you Monday!

Peter

 

Thanks!

The HAMB demands pictures!

 

My 36 mittler bros bead roller will not bead 16 guage with the motor it came with.
I put on a larger motor and made braces to bolt on the sides to keep them from
spreading when trying to do 16 guage. This roller was origanally made for aluminum
and light guage steel. That's why they made a shorter and more heavy duty model I assume. I have never used the other, I have used mittlers from the very first one made.

 

Thinking about replacing my 24 inch adjustable shaft mittler bros. For a 36 inch Baileigh.

 

do it

 

Just came across this forum and this post. Had been looking at the mittler Jamey Jordan series for ever. Looking at the 36" baileigh now.

Does anyone actually use the adjustable shaft on the mittler? When do you need it? Is it interchangeable with the baileigh? Are all the dies still interchangeable between brands? Is there anything you feel one offers that the other one doesn't besides the adjustable shaft? Looking to buy ASAP.