Looking at purchasing a small beadroller. Found this one on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/Sheet-Metal-Fabrication-Tool-Bead-Roller-Shear-Cut_W0QQitemZ7577073264QQcategoryZ633QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Has anybody got any experience with one like this or know of a better deal on one that will do the same work? Thanks, Bob
Buy it from Harbour frieght it's only like 99 bucks. You'll have to reinforce it though. They do flex.
I looked on their website and only came up with one for $159 that looks the same as the ebay one. Have you seen one lately for $99? Will this really handle 18 gauge (after reinforcement)? I've got some floor work to do that will be 18 gauge and some patch panels to flande that will be 19 or 20 ga. Would rather buy nothing than buy junk. If everthing else is ok about it could reinforce it like this one is made. It is on ebay but is $360.
Check Eastwood, I got mine for 99 last spring. Here's a link http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=11108&itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&keyword=bead+roller They are a little higher now but when I got mine it was 99.99 with free shipping. They have specials often where shipping is free. BTW if you don't get Eastwood catalogs sign up, they have a lot of stuff in them. I think the main reason the cheaper ones flex is because the back plate is a sheet ot steel, where the better ones are made of tubing. One of the metelshapers websites has a page about bracing them, basically take steel tubing, bend into "U" shape and weld one on each side.
Harbor Freight mail order regularly sells these for $99.00. Current flyer has one. Their retail stores also sell them for $99.00 Yes, they do flex. I just used one for the detail lines in a home made roadster body. Sheet metal from a 48 Ford sedan roof. Split down center. Gives a nice compound curve to body sides.
I recently used a friend's without reinforcement and put some pretty decent beads in some 18 ga. floor blanks. Had to run them through several times a little at a time. They came out good although I just ordered one from Harbor Freight (for $99 and I bought the guide fence for about another $20 I think). I am going to reinforce it before I run steel through it. Worth it for the price- I had an old Roper Whitney that I think the dies ran more than the whole Harbor Frt unit.-Jim
I got this one , and as Toymont stated, It works great! If you have to reinfoce that POS Harbor Freight tool, why bother? Your time and the metal are worth something too. Spend a bit more and get something that will do the job its designed for . Everytime I buy cheap shit I end up regretting it...
mabe more than you want too spend but look at www.mittlerbros.com all of there stuff is great quality. dave
i dunno, i can do a hell of a lot of reinforcement for the $260 price difference. really, LOTS of people are using the HF bead roller, it is actually one of the good buys from HF, if you can't weld on some angle iron or tube within an hour, there's is something seriously wrong with your fab skills.
Between the HF bead roller and a home-made sheet metal brake I've made all my modified race car's panels the last 3 seasons. I've yet to weld up some square tubing to stiffen up the bead roller as I only roll thin aluminum, but I can see how doing anything thicker or steel would definately need beefing up. Heck I've probably generated more scrap metal than it would take to reinforce it. Gotta do what 'ya can to save a buck when you're paying all the bills out of pocket!
I've got the HF Bead Roller, and after some stiffening, it works great. I just got some tipping dies for Christmas from Hoosier Pattern. Haven't tried them yet, but others have and love 'em- Craig
I've had my Harbour Freight bead roller since '97. It was my carry-on luggage from a Disneyland trip. First thing I did when I got it home was to build a backbone and a stand. Works great for 18 ga in a single pass. I also re-machined the shearing die into a crimping die. My electric shears work far better than the shearing die would have and now using the crimping die I can start curved brakes. I also tossed the crank handle in favor of a large diameter wheel. Some day soon I want to motorize it with the inclusion of a foot pedal. Then it will be a one man operation
you definitley want to beef it up. i couldn`t belive what a diference it made. bweincek; can we see a picture of the brake? tinman; is a crimping die like a tipping die? can we see a pic? here`s a pic of my modified hf roller and a pic of a tipping setup for it. the skate wheel needs to be a little stiffer. next up is motorize it. gary
I concur on the stiffening of the HF unit. I'd post pics of what I did, but someone is borrowing mine right now. I'll also add that getting rid of the crank handle and replacing it with some kind of wheel makes it infinitely easier to use the machine by yourself. I used an old swap meet steering wheel on mine. All said, even if you make your own frame, the HF dies, shafts, & gears are easily worth a picture of Mr. Franklin.
hey tisdelsky... I think we're talking about the same thing ...crimping/tipping. Just a way to start a non-straight brake so that you can take over with a hammer and dolly to get it up to a crisp 90º. I also have two homemade brakes. My favorite has a zamboni blade for the clamping arm pressed into place with a 2 ton bottle jack. No slippage makes for very crisp 90º's in 18ga.
hey tisdelsky... I think we're talking about the same thing ...crimping/tipping. Just a way to start a non-straight brake so that you can take over with a hammer and dolly to get it up to a crisp 90º. I also have two homemade brakes. My favorite has a zamboni blade for the clamping arm pressed into place with a 2 ton bottle jack. No slippage makes for very crisp 90º's in 18ga.
I have the HF beader and I am in the process of beefing this one up. I had one before and gave it to a bud, but I liked it enough to get another one. I stiffened the first one just like they showed on metalshapers. This one I'm gonna motorize and make a large frame for (also make longer shafts). If you want some tipping dies for cheap, just unscrew the shearing dies and screw on a hardend washer. Grind the edge of the washer for whatever tightness of crease you want, use a car bushing for the lower die.
Thanks everyone for their replies. Looks like the HF is up to the task if beefed up a bit. I found another one on ebay that is about the same money. Does anyone have this one? http://cgi.ebay.com/Bead-roller-rolling-sheet-metal-beading-WOODWARD-FAB_W0QQitemZ4430141372QQcategoryZ20764QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Bob
Exact same as Harbor Freight, probably originally ordered from them. HF has $5 shipping, so both guys are gigging on price and shipping cost.
hi tinman, can i see some pics. of your brakes, i want to have one finished by the end of january. slide; the reason i didn`t change the handle to a wheel is that i want to put a motor on it and figuered i should change it to the motor. gary
Well said, Chaz. I actually own both. If you can't guess, I bought the Harbor Freight one first, got damned frustrated with it, and then bought that red one from Tools Plus. Simple reinforcement alone doesn't cure the HF's problems. In addition: 1) The crank is impossible to turn at a steady rate as you simultaneously feed sheetmetal into the bead dies. The wheel on the red one makes that possible. This makes for much cleaner beads, and much better control. 2) The red jobbie has KEYED dies. The HF piece doesn't. There are, I believe, set screws, that try to hold the dies to the shafts. But they don't really work. A proper rectangular key does. 3) The red guy uses real tool steel. I don't know what grade or anything, but it's a LOT better than the bullshit black oxide covered crap that HF gives you. Those are worthless. And this is all besides the necessary reinforcement the HF piece needs. (By the way, I'm not anti-HF, I have, use, and really like their version of the Beverly throatless shear. They used to also carry a really short throat bead roller that was worth the money, but that might be gone now. The one linked to the ebay site, however, is a piece of crap. And I know because I own it!) --Matt
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