My roller/bender

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Thought I would post my roller over in this forum as well.The wheel was the first project..   This is 5/8 solid bar rolled with little effort.  I have rolled 1/2 and 3/4 box tube into circles.  The smallest was 7 inches
Reply:What are you using for rollers?--Evan
Reply:The outer roller is a piece of 1.75" pipe with an approx 3/8" wall.  The inner pipe fits snugly inside and it has a 1/2" ID.  The shaft is obviously 1/2"
Reply:Good looking roller AZ.  Very heavy duty looking and nice design.
Reply:Look's great, but how do you adjust it to roll for different diameters. I see the bottle jack underneath but can't figure out if that is the adjustment or not and if it is how does it operate.
Reply:The jack sits on a piece of I beam that is connected to the drive roller up each side.  As you apply pressure with the jack, it pulls the drive wheel down.  The more pressure, the tighter the diameter.
Reply:AZ,Good looking roller. Tell me if you can. And if I can ask this right.  This is a tough question to explain with my limited verbal skills.It 's obvious that the two outer rollers (in-feed and out-feed) are spaced maybe a couple inches away from the center roller. Are there any advantages or disadvantages with having those rollers closer IN or even farther OUT from the center roller? Also is there any reason for the top roller to go lower than a point even with the tops of the two outside rollers? I guess a way of asking is, if you built another one right now, would you change anything about the roller deminsions/spacing?Confused yet? Thanks,"The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living and the get rich quick theory of life." -Theodore Roosevelt
Reply:Hi Sandy,Your first question: Yes there is an advantage to moving them in and out.  The closer you move them to the center roller, the tighter (smaller) complete circle you can roll.  (the closer the better)The wider the rollers, the easier it is to roll a nice arch. If you notice, the outer bearings are out wider than the center roller bearings.  They tuck under the support for the center roller.  I did this to get the three rollers as close as possible.Second:  YES, but not by much.  My rollers will all sit level unless you have a piece of material between them.  As you put pressure on your workpiece (mostly with thin stock)  the top roller can go below the tops of the outer rollers.  Third: I wouldn't change anything.  I am SO happy with this roller.  It works better than I hoped for.  It rolls very smooth, takes little effort, and produces perfect circles.  I really like the pressure for the center roller coming from below the bender.  There is nothing to get in the way of the work piece.Take care...
Reply:Are there any advantages or disadvantages with having those rollers closer IN or even farther OUT from the center roller?
Reply:Main, nice design.  Simple and functional.I'm curious, since your roller pressure comes from two seperate sides, does creating even pressure become a problem?  Material wanting to take off to one side because there might be more pressure coming from one side?
Reply:I'm curious, since your roller pressure comes from two seperate sides, does creating even pressure become a problem?
Reply:Quote:Third: I wouldn't change anything. I am SO happy with this roller. It works better than I hoped for. It rolls very smooth, takes little effort, and produces perfect circles. I really like the pressure for the center roller coming from below the bender. There is nothing to get in the way of the work piece.===============================Thanks,Why fool with something that just feels right?  I like the design,  clean  up topside. and it's a little more than just a ring roller.  You could roll fairly wide (12") sheets too."The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living and the get rich quick theory of life." -Theodore Roosevelt
Reply:Main,I like your design too.  Looks like it could be put down and under for storage. It's another one that could be used for more than just bars and straps. Heck you could roll a BBQ shell with that one. One thing about both of these, a guy can get a picture in mind and start collecting parts and store them up for winter projects."The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living and the get rich quick theory of life." -Theodore Roosevelt
Reply:I was curious as to where you can purchase the pillow bearings as well as the diameter of the pipe that you stated that inserts in to the 1.75 x 3/8ths pipe"simple minds make complicated thoughts"
Reply:Many places sell pillow bearings. McMaster Carr, Grainger, etc.  Just make sure they are rated for high pressure.I got the pipe at a local shop in AZ.  I would just hit the yellow pages and ask for thick walled tube/pipe.Good luck!
Reply:hey i saw this and just had to build one.i did add some heavy duty springs to the center roller that lift it upto make it easier to insert materiali have all kinds of scrap laying around that has now been bent upfrom angle to 1 1/2 tubinghavent actually built anything useful besides the wheel tho but its been fun
Reply:I have received some PM's for the photos.  I changed servers and the old ones were lost.  I would have edited the original but there seems to be some kind of time limit on editing.  Can't see any possible value in that???Anyway, my roller has been re-designed with 2" pillow blocks and 2" thick pipe.  The drive wheel is now 24" in diameter.The wheel was the first project... 2 ton bottle jackThis piece of 5/8 solid bar rolled with very little effort..
Reply:Looks good, looks like it works quite well !John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:That looks really good AZ. I started building a ring roller some time ago, basically a larger version of the Shopoutfitters one and with power. Then I started searching the web for ideas from what others have built...now I can't decide what I want to do Yours is unique and one of the better ones I've seen How wide of mat'l can you roll? and thickness?
Reply:I like your design.  If I understand it correctly -- if you removed the bottle jack the center roller and its attachments would slide freely up and down guided by a couple of pins on each side to keep it straight up and down.  Is this right?
Reply:That's a nice design.  I've been searching for something to build and never came across this thread before...TOOLandFAB.com See our Articles and Member Writeups and Tool Review Sections
Reply:nice simple design, have been looking a roller designs to complement my jd2 benders, and this one is now at the top of my list of choises...Millermatic 175 MIGMiller Spectrum 375 PlasmaLincoln AC/DC 225 BuzzboxM-Tech NE5 Tube bender withcustom CNC machined 3/4" think main arms
Reply:editedWhere the !@#$%^&  is the post delete buttonLast edited by coachgeo; 06-25-2006 at 11:28 AM.
Reply:Originally Posted by Arc_ItI like your design.  If I understand it correctly -- if you removed the bottle jack the center roller and its attachments would slide freely up and down guided by a couple of pins on each side to keep it straight up and down.  Is this right?
Reply:So why did you decide to NOT give adjustability to the two outer rollers? Could see addimg more holes in your frame that would allow you to spread them further apart.Originally Posted by coachgeoSo why did you decide to NOT give adjustability to the two outer rollers? Could see addimg more holes in your frame that would allow you to spread them further apart.