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Fabrication Tool Questions

11K views 15 replies 11 participants last post by  timothale 
#1 ·
I am finishing up restoring a 36 Dodge Sedan. Now I have a 38 Dodge Humpback Truck. The only rust/rot that means anything is along the bottom edge of the panels, the wheel wells, and around the rear corners. I need infor on Beaders (or what ever else will make those round indentations around the edges) and what to bend the straight edges with. Where do I get these without going bankrupt. This is my next step in learning this art. I am retired after 36 years of 14 hour days, and am making up for lost time. I'd appreciate your suggestions. Thanks.
 
#2 ·
Get a Harbor Freight Tool catalog or Eastwood. These will give you an idea of the tools and costs. Most are copies of the original machines but are able to do hobby type work. The bead rollers can come in handy for sheet metal lip details and the small brakes can do the lower panel bends. The shrinker and stretchers work well. They cost from 50-80% less than the originals they are copies of. Even some of the tooling interchanges. My Pexto uses the same rollers as the copy and the jaws on the shrink/stretch are the same as my old high dollar original metal worker.
 
#3 ·
harbor freight bead roller

:(
I I bought a bead roller from harbor freight, and it is not worth the money.
the main body is cheap steel and it flexs when you put some pressure on the roller. They are not that hard to make if you have a welder and a lathe to cut the rollers. you may be able to beef up the hargbor freight one with some square tubing and that way you will get the roller and the gears.
Also it is better to have a wheel to turn the beader, a hand crank makes you flop around when making a bead.
If you want pictures see attached pictures of the one I built.

Have fun
Tom
 

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#4 ·
acourtjester said:
:(
I I bought a bead roller from harbor freight, and it is not worth the money.
the main body is cheap steel and it flexs when you put some pressure on the roller. They are not that hard to make if you have a welder and a lathe to cut the rollers. you may be able to beef up the hargbor freight one with some square tubing and that way you will get the roller and the gears.
Also it is better to have a wheel to turn the beader, a hand crank makes you flop around when making a bead.
If you want pictures see attached pictures of the one I built.

Have fun
Tom
Hey Tom,do you have plans or diagrams for your roller?If so can you post them or help me out with some info?I would like to build one. :evil:
 
#6 · (Edited)
Bead Roller

:D
The rollers were machined by me and the gear was a purchase from a company that sells gears. I bought one wide gear and cut it in half to make the 2 gears I needed for the bead roller. More info can be supplied for those who want it.

Have fun
Tom
 

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#7 ·
Granted, the bead roller sold by HF is not the best made. I have found that it works well for sheetmetal of the thicknesses used mostly on autos. If i don't try to go the full depth of the bead, I have had no problems with it. Going the full depth in one trip, will also distort the sheetmetal that I am working with.

I recently used mine to make a patch panel for the floor of a 87 Dodge Shelby Charger. The beads were almost a perfect match for what was original.

The only real problem I have had with mine, is the hand crank. It WOULD be better with a wheel on there. It also could be reinforced to be able to handle heavier metals.

Aaron
 
#8 ·
ok i might be kicking a dead horse here.

but i just bought a 49 ford truck F-1.

i know i will need to do the floors in here and also the window channel on one side of the cab.

I also would like to do the fire wall in it to make it look smooth and no holes other then what has to be there.

So the question i have is . the bead rollers that your talking of and showing here seem to me like they would not be tuff to make but what do you use for the rollers and also the shafts if you dont have acses to a lathe to turn them .

Can you buy some that will fit on diffrent size shafts?
is it something that i could make and then buy a roller to fit the shafts?

Sorry but new to this end of tools i have always bought the pannels i needed but i have 10 years for this project before i have to have it done so i figure i will have some time to attempt to make my own.
 
#9 ·
bead rollers

I do have a thought that may help you out.
I did buy a Harbor freight bead roller but did sell it soon after that.
The rollers are just fine and it seemd to work ok the problem is the main body of the roller is weak. you could buy one and weld additional metal to the weak part. I would think that if you welded a lenght of 2" X 2" X 1/4" angle iron to each side of the body at the end where the gears are this would help a great deal. weld that angle iron on like < > so the points are out on each side.
Also in the last reply the deep beads were head to do, I have found that going back and forth over a bead makes a mess and it hard to keep them aligned over each other. I start by moving the roller a short distance back and forth going deeper each time until the max depth is met and than rolling the complete bead. once started deep it seems to go well after that.

another way is to buy a H.F. roller and build your own body. I can send you the pictures of mine and plans from another that was built by another guy.

Have fun
Tom :welcome: :D
There is a great amount of info out there for the asking.
Many are happy to help, we all started from scratch.
 
#10 ·
additional info

:mwink:
I did build mine with a wheel and not a crank. the wheel allows you to grip and turn from a single position and not twist your body when you roll a bead.

I have a wheel about 22" in diameter.

Also you need to keep the panel as level as you can as you roll if you drop down on the input or output as you roll it will curve the bead. you could start with a flat panel and end up with a bend one just by moving up and down as you roll.

buy buy
Tom :p
 
#12 ·
yeah i would love plans for this if yahave them,

This is actually what i started out looking for is the plans and a how to build this and a slip roller. and a small bending brake,

just light weight on those two but i know they are real helpful some times. that and i enjoy tinkering with metal.
 
#14 ·
Sifua, Congradulations on the retirement, if the panels you are making are small you could shape the beads by hand, it's amazing what parts can be hammered out with just some simple hammers, dollies, stump, shotbag, etc...
Cabcorners and cowl patches can usually be hammered out fairly easily.
 
#16 ·
H F tools

I bought the harbor freight bead roller. planishing hammer and english wheel. they are passable for light work I check the metalmeet web site. they show how to build tools, form and work metal and how to modify the H F tools. I added 3 x 3 by 3/8 angle to the bead roller and added the H F atv winch to power drive the roller. the rollers need to be polished for serious work. I have about 49 feet of 4 x 6 by 3/8 rec tube I am going to use to beef up the E wheel. out of the box it has way too much flex, I am going to grind a flat on the quick release so it will stay locked. wheels also need polishing. their tools are a starting point the price was cheaper than I could buy new steel to make them. WE did a demolition job last spring and I saved a lot of steel to use in my home shop.
 
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