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Up Topic Welding Industry / Welding Fundamentals / Roll Bender
- - By aevald (*****) Date 12-06-2011 19:13 Edited 12-06-2011 19:19
Hello everyone, been a while since I've posted much into this section of the forum. This is a project that I have been working on off and on for close to 9 months. As with most things that I have built, I have certainly found items that could use some improving and modification. After completion of this, operating it, and then seeing some other similar machines I have come to the conclusion that I will likely be building another one. The next one will incorporate some fairly extensive design changes. As to this version: It does function fairly well and is capable of doing quite a few different things that I wasn't able to do before. The biggest plus was the cost, it's built from items that I had been hording over the years and finally was able to put to use. I have done some of the simpler machining and have some additional dies coming for it that the machine shop will be helping out with, mainly dies for rolling pipe: 1/2",3/4", 1", 1 1/4", 1 1/2", and some additional dies for rolling square tubing of different sizes, maybe even some angle iron die sets. The roll power is provided by a gear reducer with additional gearing via sprocket and chain, the crimp adjustment is done via an air over hydraulic porta-power system. I've included just a couple of examples of quickly rolled items. Hope you folks enjoy this. Best regards, Allan

Almost forgot, it doesn't have any guarding on it yet but that will be included before it every gets put to general use. I have also included a foot switch for safety, the directional switch can be set to control direction of roll rotation and then the rolls will work with depression of the foot switch.
Parent - By unclematt (***) Date 12-06-2011 19:32
Hello;
That is a mighty fine piece of equipment there. Great job.
Parent - - By Blaster (***) Date 12-06-2011 20:06
That's sweet Allan!
Parent - - By Tommyjoking (****) Date 12-07-2011 04:07 Edited 12-07-2011 16:01
Awesome Allan!!!!!   WTg BRO.  I absolutely love homemade fab equipment.  You find a pump here, a valve here, regulator here, bearing set here......next thing you know you have engineered and prototyped a 30k piece of equipment that WORKS.  I truly admire the moxy to make it....great job.  Of course I know you are going to tweak but judging by the looks you got the hard part done.   I have built a few decoilers and plate (more sheet metal) rolls for other people...I have been planning my own to the budget I can pull for a while.  Still gathering parts.

Funny but I count a shear first and a plate roll second....way ahead of a brake as far as equipment to acquire.  Don't think I could make a homemade shear though.  Seen a lot of homemade brakes, some of em were really nice.
Parent - By aevald (*****) Date 12-07-2011 06:06 Edited 12-07-2011 17:08
Hello Tommy, a little off subject, but your mention of a shear just reminded me of a little something that happened in our shop the other day. Used cold saw blades and shears don't mix. One of the little bright ones grabbed part of an old cold saw blade and decided to "cut" it in our shear. Unlike most metals that actually sound like they are being sheared the explosion that occurs when you "cut" the hardened steel of a cold saw blade has quite a different sound. Good thing we've got another flip on that set of blades and another good thing...... the shrapnel from that event missed everyone.
     Back to the topic at hand, I've actually built quite a few different pieces of fab equipment over the years. I'll see if I can find some photos of some of those when I get a chance. Have a great day and   regards, Allan

Found a number of other items: one of these is a winder for wire rope slings to coil them for shipping or ease of storage. Copied another machine so that they would have two.

Another picture is of cable winders used for changing out cables on large winching systems such as high leads on logging sites, winches on docks for ships, etc. One was modification and upgrade of an existing machine, other one was built from the ground up.

Yet another picture is of a set of slip type plate rolls, 4 footer.
Final picture is of a weld positioner, in this particular picture it isn't attached to the rest of it's frame. The portion that isn't attached in the picture allows it to be hydraulically altered from it's horizontal position to one that is vertical.
Parent - - By aevald (*****) Date 12-07-2011 22:26
Tommy, I edited a previous post to include a few additional photos of some "equipment" that I was involved in building or modifying to lesser or greater degrees. So if you check out the thread again you'll find those there. Best regards, Allan
Parent - - By Tommyjoking (****) Date 12-08-2011 02:21
Very cool.   Plate roll looks pretty stout.  Heck of a positioner...I always think of small pipes or something on them, not a whole auger.  Makes sense though.   I built one of those hydraulic lifts for a garbage truck one time, you know the ones that flip the cans and set em back down.  We did not have the regulator set right on the first test, a plastic garbage can will fly pretty far.  Probably the most complicated thing I ever built.
Parent - - By aevald (*****) Date 12-08-2011 04:57
Tommy, now that sounds exciting...... to bad you didn't have the video on that. Regards, Allan
Parent - - By Tommyjoking (****) Date 12-09-2011 01:59
Yeah no camera phones back then...heck I just wish I had pictures of it cause I was kinda proud of it.  I will tell you Allan it could throw a big can at least 50 yards without damaging the machine....course after adjustment and tweaks it would hold on to them do what it was suppose to do without killing anyone.  After building that I got all kinds of ideas for four link sand rail suspensions and stuff.  That's what I really want to do is build a bad bad buggy totally from scratch except for the engine.  I promise to send you pics if I ever get time to build something cool.
Parent - By aevald (*****) Date 12-09-2011 07:39
Sounds awesome and I will be waiting. Regards, Allan
Parent - - By qcrobert (***) Date 12-09-2011 14:05
Tommy,

You may have started a whole new sport similar to pumkin chunkin!
Parent - - By Tommyjoking (****) Date 12-11-2011 17:34
That might be hard to be competitive with....those folks build some amazing machines!

I watched the last one on TV.  Pretty wild, the air cannons are awesome but I like the mechanical ones.   The centrifugal class is scary:grin:...lot of forces going on there.   It's pretty amazing how they can store so much energy by twisting up some rope on the catapults.  The trebuchet types with the weight sleds and sliding pivots impress me the most though.  All in all it looks like a great time.
Parent - By DaveBoyer (*****) Date 12-12-2011 03:14
That is only about 3 hours from where I live, I should go some time.
Parent - By Sourdough (****) Date 12-20-2011 00:48
AWESOME!!!!
Up Topic Welding Industry / Welding Fundamentals / Roll Bender

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