Custom bead rolling....lotsa pic's

Another recessed Ford firewall.....

 

S-10 Race truck interior............

 

WOW! JUST..... WOW!! You're talented man!

 

Oops, forgot the picture.......

 

Alright, now you are just showing off...



Good work, sir.

 

Busted!...... Damn, I was on a roll too.

 

Man,

Show off some more!

Danny

 

Do you line your sharpie marks up with the edge of the wheels or the center step?

Thanks

 

Very nice work. You are the only other person I have met that might have more time on a bead roller than myself. I love it. Great work on the door panels with the custom logos.

Not to hijack your thread, but here are a few of mine from the past:

 

I lack the vocabulary to truly express how talented you are. (How's that for blowing smoke up your skirt?)

 

joeelutz...... I line my lines up with the center of the dies. If I wander off the line I just stay off a little and keep going. I've found that if you try to get right back on the line you get noticable wiggles.

BigWig..........Beautiful work. I don't think I could do that EMPI panel. The cobwebs are cool, I'll probably steal that. Do you have any more pic's to show, I'd love to see some more! That goes for anybody out there. I know there must be other guys out there that have done this kind of work. How deep is your bead roller, mine is 24". What material are you using?

 

Wow! You guys have inspired me to get a bead roller. You guys rule!

 

My bead roller is 42" deep. I used it as a 24" for about 10 years, then a couple of years ago cut it up and lengthened everything out to 42". One of the best things I've ever done. I could never do something like the EMPI piece without a throat that deep. On a door panel, I can spin the whole thing 360-degrees at any point.

The other most usefull thing is to make a table to hold the workpiece flat. This really comes in handy on big pieces. I strictly work alone, so it's a lifesaver on big pieces - keeps the workpiece flat and keeps my back pain free (mostly).

I primarily use 6061-T4 in .032. It's a hard alloy, which I like for the racecars. The panels are really strong when everything is DZUS'd together or riveted in. I use steel dies. Never tried the delrin, but I think I'll order a set after seeing some of the comments from datinman on his site. I like the softer 3003 in some instances, but probably do 95% of my work in the 6061.

I'll have to dig up a picture of the worktable, or take a new one. Here's a couple more pieces though. There are more on my website (link in sig).

 

Those pleated door panels are bad ass!!!

How much do you get for something like that?

 

I'll PM you, so that this doesn't turn into a classifieds ad.

 

Oh yeah???!! Well my Dad can beat up your Dad!!!!

Man, I wished there was a way for all of us meet. Might not like one another, ( I can be a little annoying), but would be fun!!!

I built a tall folding table with a curved edge to support the larger stuff. The curved edge allows it to wrap around the roller slightly. It'll hold the piece everywhere I cant. Post a pic tomorrow

 

hi guys,

all three of you are extremely talented, i`ve had the opportunity to see jay`s work before and i`m thinking i saw bigwigs pictures on metalmeet.

as far as all three of you meeting , how about a roll off at metalmeet 07 , seeing you guys make your creations would be a huge hit, maybe you guys would get a kick out of shaping.


gary

 

Here's another one I found.

Tisdelski,, The firebird seems to be a hit, Thanx for lettin the cat outa da bag,, Hope to have owners permission to drop another bomb tomorrow!

 

BigWig......Deeper throat and support table make alot of sense, really opens up the possibilities.Looking forward to pics!
Tinman.....Thanks for posting more pics, I'm lovin it. What material are you using. I'm learning some stuff here.
Tisdelski......Most of my pictures are over ten years old.I used to do hot rod and race car fab full time but now it's just a weekend thing for me. I don't know what metalmeet is but if it's a website.... well I can barely find enough time for the H.A.M.B.
Rich.....None of this compares to the cars you're turning out! I really like your stuff, wish I could see it in person some time. I love to study cars like that.

 

Kev, the stuff I use is from Wrisco Industries, been using it for 14 years now and have had no problems with it. They have a wide selection of colors and thickness. The silver and polished stuff is clear anodized, clean it with windex, no oxidation ever. It doesn't discolor when ya break it either. I also use matte black which is baked on enamel. Google it, they have shops all over the place. No, I'm not a paid endorser.


Joe, the marker line runs in the center at the step.

 

Tinman, those clocks are some nice work. I'll have to give that a try. I like the pointy flame tips. Have to try that too. I've always made mine blunt - just wrapped the bead around the end.

Thanks for the info on Wrisco.

 

You tin boys are so talented its unreal im truly amazed , a friend of mine does the beading stuff but not the wording that ive never seen before........

 

Here's a few pics of my rolling steup,, our shop is very small, so I made my table the depth of my tool box and it folds down to 3". It fits between the tool box and the fridge, nothing else fits there.


The curve allows it to cover almost all of the rotation.

My roller is setup pretty high to be operated from a bar stool. I'm not fat but that doesn't stop my from being lazy!!!

Clocks are fun, I do 10 or 12 a year and use them for door prizes and such. The skull is my daughters clock, don't do those very often, You can do some killer girlie stuff too. I hate to admit it but here's one I did for the wife-ums for mothers day. Did one like it for my Mom at Christmas she loves it.


Last one,, Chief John Bigtree, still under the protective cover.

 

Awesome work!!!

 

I'm amazed with the detail you get in those clocks. Is that like a 12" face? To get the stems of the flowers that thin without squishing the bead on the 1st side when you roll the 2nd side, I assume you are running the steps not at full depth? I almost never step the full depth of the dies - usually only about 1 material thickness.

Here are a few shots of my modified bead roller. Started out as a Pro-Tools 24" model, which I used as-is for about 8 or 10 years. Then, I added the table. I should have done that at the beginning. I can't describe what a huge difference that made in the quality of the bead work, especially on large pieces like door panels with lots of details. If I need to, I can actually stop right in the middle of beading and walk away, and the workpiece is fully supported. The table is removable via DZUS buttons when I need to do curved pieces that would hit the table.

A couple of years ago, I cut the tubes and shafts and extended everything by 18" to get a 42" throat. I added the triangulation to help get back some of the rigidity, but it's still not as rigid as before. That's really no big deal, since I generally work with thin materials. When I have thicker stuff, I put a big C-clamp midway down the throat. I might end up boxing it in like the Mittler machines, but haven't wanted to take the time to do it yet.

I sit all the time when rolling. I built the stand for the roller at a specific height so I could be comfy when working.

 

Here are the pictures the go with the above post. For some reason, they didn't come thru on the first one.

 

I run my steps 1/2 turn past contact,, about .040 deep. I took an old set of rollers and turned both faces off, they are only 3/8 wide, 3/16 from step to the edge. Makes getting details on clocks easier. Both clocks shown here 13" faces. The ones I do for door prizes are 10" but they get simple flames. It is possible to get 22 flames in a 10" clock. Didn't get pictures of that one though.

I like your table I just don't have the space for anything that big.

 

Ric,
I wish I lived closer. Those webbed panels would be on the doors of my '31. Great work.
Woody

 

ric your table setup is great.

kevin; www.metalmeet.com is a website but is also an event , 9 days of metalshaping with all kind of things being made.

this year we had dick bear showing his scratch built mcbearen(built in one year start to finish, he was giving rides, last year james bowler was deputing his scratch built aluminum version of a ferrari )

i made a nose cone to a buggatti.

come on over and see the site.

gary

 

So tell us the story on this Kiwi?
Did this tool start out as an English Wheel and you converted it to a louver press?
Any how it looks mighty fine show us some pictures.
Plus how good does it work?
l just love your tin work, wish l could do stuff as nice as that.