Sheet Metal Roller

[stevew]

Looking for a small sheet metal roller for handyman use,any suggestions.any used ones out there??
Does anyone have any plans for a home built model .
Thank You
Steve

[joe greiner]

Chap named Dave Gingery wrote a small book for DIY slip roll. Available at Lindsay Books (elsewhere too probably). Lots of other neat stuff at Lindsay. Also fun to read his catalog. He's just as crazy as we are.

Google "lindsay books" for link.

Joe

[Al B]

Steve
I am not sure what width roller you were looking at making but here are a couple of links that may help.

http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/rolls/rolls.html

http://users.bigpond.net.au/ggoodacre/centauri/diy/roller.html

http://www.integerspin.co.uk/beadroller.htm

[Andy Mac]

Hi Steve,
I've made a couple of small ones, probably too small to be of any use to you, but they do work. The first one would be suitable for model making and jewellery, although I made it to roll small rings of aluminium sheet for some artworks. It has 2 rubber rollers, one driven by a simple crank, and an adjustable aluminium roller, all about 200mm in length. The adjustable one is carried in a pair of filed brass blocks, which slide in slots cut through the end frames, and is moved by two captured bolts with small cranks on top. The end frames are bolted (machine screws) to stretchers of aluminium extrusion.
The photos here show a couple of items I quickly rolled as samples, all put back in place for the shot!

Cheers,

[Andy Mac]

Another shot, from the front. The wider piece of metal is steel, 0.5mm thick, the aluminium strip is about 1mm and the steel wire is 2mm in diameter.
Nearly all the parts were scavenged from an old photocopier, which provide a wonderous assortment of shafts, framework, gears, rollers and mating bushings.

Cheers,

[Andy Mac]

And here is another roller, this one specifically designed to roll aluminium tubing...recycled from TV antennas, so the diameter was fixed. Again, made for production of artwork.
I turned hardwood rollers (spotted gum) and profiled the groove using a specially built turning tool to get the diameter right. The two outrigger rollers adjust to advance the curve radius. They are held in place against the backing board in T-slots routed into the surface.
This machine works OK, as can be seen by the rolled tubing, but the crank is a bit of bugger. It should have been fitted to the other side, out of the way of the rolled tube as feeds off the roller.
So I think it is possible to construct your own roller, but I haven't been ambitious in scale.:rolleyes: It may not turn out very versatile, but go and have a good look over commercial ones and go home to adapt the ideas. BTW, I did the rudimentary turning on the first one using a drill press for a lathe

Cheers,