Going to build a Ring Roller

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Hey I've been looking at getting a ring roller to build a few projects and instead of buying one I would rather make one of my own.  I drew up one in Google Sketch up (great program to make some 3d models of projects you want to work on), and built it out of material I have on hand.  I'm still collecting and preparing to start my project, take a look at it and tell me if theres anything I should change, or any problems you all see with it.  Thanks
Reply:whats going to stabilize your bottom section as it engages the material. some rollers have a tendency lead forward. also, try to use some bearings, it will keep the everything level and square, and their greasable. not sure if you planned on them, kinda hard to see from the pics. looks good though."Retreat hell, were just fighting in the other direction"Miller Trailblazer 302, Extreme 12 VS, Dimension 400, Spectrum 375, HF 251D-1, Milermatic 251 w/ spoolgun  Hypertherm 1000Lincoln sp 1702000 F-450 to haul it
Reply:Yes bearing will be used.  And to keep the lower rollers stabalized there is going to be a guide along each side of the upright to keep it going straight up and down.
Reply:Looks like you've got a good mock-up to work from. Go slow and think it out as you go. Think about ease of assembly and disassembly.
Reply:are you buying the rollers or you milling them? also, the gears, are you going to make them or off the shelf kind?"Retreat hell, were just fighting in the other direction"Miller Trailblazer 302, Extreme 12 VS, Dimension 400, Spectrum 375, HF 251D-1, Milermatic 251 w/ spoolgun  Hypertherm 1000Lincoln sp 1702000 F-450 to haul it
Reply:To quote BRAK, "whys it upside down?"Which is to say, wouldnt it be a lot sturdier to use the jack to move the top roller up and down, and fix the bottom two rollers?This is the way many commercial ones work.I am afraid your small connection between the horizontal bar holding your bottom two rollers, and the vertical post, just wont be strong enough, especially since it has to have enough slop to move.Check out these commercial models-http://www.bossbendersusa.com/http://www.shopoutfitters.com/http://www.rdhs.com/http://www.pro-tools.com/m3roll.htmAlso, the way you have it drawn, its not clear whether the rolls are easily removable, but they should be- you will want to make tube rolls for round material, with half round grooves in em, and then, to roll most square, flat, square tube, and so on, it makes sense to sandwich the material with a set of big and small spacers-Check out how the dies are made at Eagle- the "erector set" approach of a series of different thickness spacers, with a much bigger roll at each end, allows you to get much less distortion when rolling.http://www.eaglebendingmachines.com/index66.htmlThe big flat rolls you have drawn are good for rolling flat bar the easy way, but not much else.
Reply:This ring roller topic shows up every where and often.  Obviously a lot of people would like to have one.  so far, I have just used an old worn out slip roll I got for $5.  It will take up to 5/16" and I have rolled 1/4" x 2" a number of times.  You get a little twist here and there, but nothing that can;t be worked out.I would really like to have something to roll small angles and 1/4"x2" the hard way.  Like this one from the above listed "rdhs.com" websitehttp://www.rdhs.com/products/tubingbender.htmlI have all the shafts (1 1/2") and pillow block bearings, sprockets and chains, etc.  I have just finished rebuilding an old lathe I bought so I can fabricate the rollers.  Every ad for this type of roller never shows the back side where all the interesting part is.  Somewhere a while back I found a thread with just what I have in mind, but can't find it again.I hope I am not hijacking this thread, but we were talking about rollers.  I'd love to see other pics or designs for rollers, especially those where you can see the works.
Reply:I've gotten a lot of good advice on building one and plan on redesigning mine to make if more efficient.  Thanks for the links.
Reply:Here are some threads on this forum that I like. If you do a search for 'ring roller' you'll find some others. In fact I found this forum after googling for ring roller plans.http://www.weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread...ht=ring+rollerhttp://www.weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread...ht=ring+rollerhttp://www.weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread...ht=ring+rollerLast edited by Captainfab; 07-29-2006 at 02:05 AM.Reason: not all links working