square tubing roller info

admin

Does anyone have any experience with square tubing rollers?What is the largest size tube that a roller will accept?Are there companies out there that CNC bending?I'm looking to roll a 1.5" x 3" piece of tubing that is roughly 3' long into a U or maybe like a bow.Any and all info would be much appreciated.Thanks
Reply:1 1/2" x 3" isnt a square- thats a rectangle.You can roll square tube, and you can roll rectangle tube, both the easy way and the hard way.The radius of bend depends on the wall thickness. Too tight of a curve, and it will crumple up in the inside.There are all kinds of rolls out there for square tube.There are manual, hand crank rolls, but they will not do a 180 degree bend in 3' of length, which is about a 12" radius.There are power rolls, and, yes, there are CNC rolls. And there are lots of places that will roll stuff for you for money. Is what you want to roll square, or rectangular?How thick is the wall?What is the actual radius of bend you want?
Reply:You got me. It is rectangular, my bad. Was unsure on how the dies would work with it, if it will work.They will not be thin, I do believe it is a thicker material.The radius is not tight ,more of a bow I guess you could say.I'm actually finding all information tomorrow morning, thickness and the radius desired.
Reply:Well, for the power rolls, I have a set of the CP-40 from Eagle Bending-http://www.eaglebendingmachines.com/cp40h08RAY33.htmlthey were not cheap, and I bought them almost ten years ago, they have gone up a bunch since then- but if you can find someone with a similar sized roll, it should do what you want.The dies are a bunch of spacers, and you build them up to the size of square you want to bend. I think mine will go out to 3", which would be the easy way, but you might need an even bigger machine. My size of machine would definitely do 1 1/2", which would be bending it the hard way. My machine is about 3 1/2hp, and it would do this in 1/4" wall, but no thicker. Easier with 1/8" or 3/16" wall. That would be in steel. If you are talking aluminum, obviously, it bends easier. But it work hardens easier too...Not sure what you mean by a "bow". Like a bowtie, or the bow of a boat? Generally you would measure the curve in degrees- 180 degrees is a "U", 90 degrees is a right angle. When rolling square or rectangle tube like this, you start with a gentle curve, and keep increasing the roll pressure and rolling it again and again til you get the curve you want. Multiple passes to get a 180 degree U. And it will deform a bit- it wont be perfectly rectangular when its done. The tighter the bend, the more the deformation. The metal has to go somewhere, and even though it will stretch at the outside of the curve, and shrink at the inside, it will still get a bit trapezoid on you, getting thinner at the outside and wider at the inside. How much depends on your curve.I would call around, somebody should be able to do this for you. Its kind of a black art- every machine works a bit differently, every batch of steel bends a bit differently, so you kind of have to have experience, and you creep up on your final bend. What gets tricky is when you need a bunch the same, and dont have a cnc machine. The motorized machines usually have an LED readout, so you can try to duplicate pressure, but only the full on CNC machines can actually automatically do the same thing over and over again, and they start at fifty grand and go up from there.Last edited by Ries; 07-05-2012 at 03:02 PM.
Reply:If you're just looking for a wide radius bow over the length of a piece, you could always try flame bending it.