I have not used them yet, and I will not trash any thing that Dave Williams has made. His stuff is always well made and clever. But the one comment I will make is that his design as a manual press, is going to be a very hard deal to control, and probably pretty tiring to use. You would not believe how much force it takes to go through a piece of 18 or 20 gauge steel to form a louver. My hydraulic press loads pretty hard before it pops the louver and strikes the dies. I just don't see it being very practical for any thing other than occasional use. Do like the shape of the dies though...
Or do you mean Dave's louver dies for the bead roller? I have a set, they work okay - you need to adhere to the recommended gaps EXACTLY and then roll them a few times to get the full shape. Also, the louvers will need some minor hammer and dolly work after to make them nice and true. All around they are a good value in my book - you can cut louvers of any length and even curved louvers - try that with your press. Steve PS - my first thought looking at the thread ***le was the same - thought we lost Dave! Glad to hear that's not so.
The Jalopy Journal
