I've decided i want to make my roadster body, but first i'm going to need some metal working tools. It looks like i can make my own english wheel but where can i get the rollers? Or even better does anyone know of any plans avaiable.

I know i could prolly make the rollers on the lathe but i dont know what dimensions to make, and i would prolly go thru more cutters and steel stock then it would cost to buy the rollers

I would heartily recommend Joe at Hoosier Pattern www.hooosierpattern.com. He makes some of the highest quality stuff around. You might also want to visit Metalmeet.com-there is a lot of tremendously useful information there regarding shaping metal-

Craig

How about using common bearings?

http://www.roddingroundtable.com/te...s/12ewheel.html

[edited to add:]
The title of the article is "Building your own Benchtop English Wheel". Sorry for leaving that out.

Go here

http://www.englishwheels.net/index.html

I second the advice offered by 35window. Joe at Hoosier Patterns does excellent work. MetalMeet.com has a wealth of information on building and using an english wheel along with advice from talented metal shapers.

Definately see Metalmeet.com for info. Especially Kerry Pinkerton's Imperial Wheel. Best design I have ever seen ! I have a 26F that will do 16 ga. steel like butter! He makes a 18" that will do 12 GUAGE STEEL!

Most of the other wheels on the market advertise 16ga steel, but it takes forever , due to upper arm deflection.

You can also get plans and buy parts from Kerry. Check out his head assembly. It has adjustmnt for wear. Lower wheel assembly is adjustable for wheeling heqvier guage steel. (COmpensates for deflection)

Hey that's pretty neat, might be just the ticket for small jobs and shallow pockets.

I like the simplicity of the design and the fact that it uses parts you can get easily. The price of 'ready-built' English wheels scares me since I've never used one and might just plain suck at it. If I ever get done with my garage extension, I'm going to try that design with some really heavy ball casters instead of the bearings they use. Might not work, but it would be easy to replace them with what's in those plans, then.

English wheels can be fun. One nice thing bout them is that you can, many times, undo the damage that you do with them. I have a small one that I made, and enjoy just playing with it. I actually use it sometimes to remove dents in damaged panels also. Play with scrap metal to get the feeling of what you are doing. As for the wheels, you can check on E-bay for them. You need to watch, bcause some people sell crap, like everything else, and they are not protected from corrosion. The pitting will transfer onto the metal thatyou are working.

You might consider the simplest frame possible which is a large rectangle. I made one to take on the road for metalshaping workshops, and it works very well. I plan to make a larger one with more adjustments available for my shop. See attached picture.

Kerry Pinkerton and Hoosier Pattern are highly recommended, and www.metalcrafttools.com as well.

John www.ghiaspecialties.com

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