Gamble97
20+ Year Contributor
- 2,642
- 63
- Jan 3, 2006
-
small town,
Illinois
Well finally after talking about buying something to bead roll pipes I finally bought the kit from harbor freight and used a 20% off coupon, so it was around $150
Benchtop Sheet Metal Fabrication Kit
I bought it because I rolled a friends intercooler pipes and did some welding so it has half paid for itself already. Little upset that I found a really nice bead roller for $300 after I bought and modified this one, but I guess I'll just make this work.
So at first me and my 2 year old go to harbor freight and I asked for this kit and they bring it up and pay for it. I didn't realize how heavy it was. 60 pound! Try carrying that in 1 hand and a kido in the other. It wasn't fun.
Got to open it and the plate on this thing is THICK. So I thought maybe it was a revision, no way a plate this thick can bow like everyone says. I'll measure it, but it has to be at least 1/2" thick.
Put it in the vice (you really need 3 hands with how heavy it is) Put the 1/4" die and start rolling a bead. Well guess what, the piece flexes a lot. So I used some scrap 1/8" thick 1" angle iron. Welded a piece on the top and bottom. I was tired and didin't want to tig it so I tried my 110v hobart handler 140 mig. Eh, the hobart didn't like it. Really needed a beefy machine for it. So I mig welded a few spots and then hooked up the thermal arc 186 in stick mode at 170 amps with some 1/8" rod. Way too much amperage, tried it at 130, still a little hot, and then down to 107 and it was ok. Yes I suck at stick welding. So needless to say my welds on this thing SUCK. But it's holding. I cut a small piece of angle and joined the other 2 pieces, put it in the vice.
And if you crank on it, guess what it, still flexes! The good news is you don't have to go that tight. So I did a practice run and the pipe came out really good. I was happy. Did a few more and not so good. It's really hard to do a piece that isn't 100% straight cut, and it's even harder to do a full UICP that is already welded together. And to make matters worse it won't roll evenly. Your REALLY need a fence/guide. Eastwood sells one, but it's $80.
I stared at this machine for hours and didn't come up with shit. I came up with one design but it didn't work very well and it's hard to do shit since I sold my plasma cutter. I left the house and came back a few hours later with a clear mind. So no plasma cutter and I didn't want to do much cutting so I used the bandsaw to cut up a piece of 12x12 16g into 4 squares (only used 2) then used whatever I had in my scrap bucket.
Came up with this still design.
And here is how my first bead came out with the fence.
Hopefully they all come out like this. But now I'm a few hours into this and $150 loss, I may sell it and get the one I really want.
Benchtop Sheet Metal Fabrication Kit
I bought it because I rolled a friends intercooler pipes and did some welding so it has half paid for itself already. Little upset that I found a really nice bead roller for $300 after I bought and modified this one, but I guess I'll just make this work.
So at first me and my 2 year old go to harbor freight and I asked for this kit and they bring it up and pay for it. I didn't realize how heavy it was. 60 pound! Try carrying that in 1 hand and a kido in the other. It wasn't fun.
Got to open it and the plate on this thing is THICK. So I thought maybe it was a revision, no way a plate this thick can bow like everyone says. I'll measure it, but it has to be at least 1/2" thick.
Put it in the vice (you really need 3 hands with how heavy it is) Put the 1/4" die and start rolling a bead. Well guess what, the piece flexes a lot. So I used some scrap 1/8" thick 1" angle iron. Welded a piece on the top and bottom. I was tired and didin't want to tig it so I tried my 110v hobart handler 140 mig. Eh, the hobart didn't like it. Really needed a beefy machine for it. So I mig welded a few spots and then hooked up the thermal arc 186 in stick mode at 170 amps with some 1/8" rod. Way too much amperage, tried it at 130, still a little hot, and then down to 107 and it was ok. Yes I suck at stick welding. So needless to say my welds on this thing SUCK. But it's holding. I cut a small piece of angle and joined the other 2 pieces, put it in the vice.
And if you crank on it, guess what it, still flexes! The good news is you don't have to go that tight. So I did a practice run and the pipe came out really good. I was happy. Did a few more and not so good. It's really hard to do a piece that isn't 100% straight cut, and it's even harder to do a full UICP that is already welded together. And to make matters worse it won't roll evenly. Your REALLY need a fence/guide. Eastwood sells one, but it's $80.
I stared at this machine for hours and didn't come up with shit. I came up with one design but it didn't work very well and it's hard to do shit since I sold my plasma cutter. I left the house and came back a few hours later with a clear mind. So no plasma cutter and I didn't want to do much cutting so I used the bandsaw to cut up a piece of 12x12 16g into 4 squares (only used 2) then used whatever I had in my scrap bucket.
Came up with this still design.
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And here is how my first bead came out with the fence.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Hopefully they all come out like this. But now I'm a few hours into this and $150 loss, I may sell it and get the one I really want.
