I have a customer who is building a club. In this club he wants curving stainless steel handrail to follow the perimeter of a stage. It is shaped like a streched out 'S'. I haven't the slightest idea how to bend stainless tubing without marring it.
Any ideas?
Are there companies that you can send the specs to and they make you a kit?
Never can be an easy job, sigh
You could use a Hosfeld Bender. To keep the iron/steel dies from chewing up polished stainless tubing a thin tough rubber sheet is placed between the tube and dies.
I don't know exactly what the rubber was, or where to get it, but I did see a friend using it while bending marine railings. This also prevents carbon transfer, which causes rust on stainless in wet environments.
The Hosfeld dies for making large radiuses don't bend around a plug like the small radius dies, they push between two supports, You bend slightly then advance the tube and bend a little more.
Dave's suggestion is good but I have always had them rolled. Stainless, regular pipe, square tube, rec tube, & the tubular moulded that I buy from King for most of my top rails. I used to have a local shop that let me use his roller and I let his guys come over and use my ironworker. He went out of business and sold the roller for more than I wanted to pay.
Anyway, it isn't difficult to get the proper measurements and then check the rolled pieces as they come through the rolls to make sure they are correct or need another trip through with more pressure.
For some radiused/helical stairways that need more than just a radius I used a shop in Fort Mojave on the AZ/NV border. They know how to take my measurements and get the corkscrew twist just right for the job. A lot more expensive than just rolling them though.
You should be able to do a search for your area and find shops with the ability to roll tubing.
Have a Great Day, Brent
If the radius is uniform, the roller is much easier & faster.
The good thing about a Hosfeld or one of it's top quality clones is that it can be used for a wide variety of jobs.
Hello Dave,
Even with uneven radius work, I roll the parts then use a portable pipe bender to 'tweek' it in on site. I find the use of only a bender to be too uneven resulting in little straight runs with a bunch of kinks to make the curve.
Now, I'm not trying to argue with Dave. Just using his post as fuel to add another thought to aid in the discussion. We all have our ways and means. And sometimes we have to make due with what we have available, in our own resources and those around us. If you can't come up with a roller, use the benders. Just use care to make it as smooth as possible and make sure your customer understands the finished work before you begin. It is no fun to try to explain after the fact why the rail as all that series of little bends in it instead of a smooth curve.
Have a Great Day, Brent
Wow. That picture of the descending staircase is beautiful. Very challenging to helix square/rectangular material and maintain the correct twist on top of railing.
Here are a couple more of the finished product and work in progress.
Have a Great Day, Brent
I did a stainless hand rail job out of 1 1/4 tubbing about a month ago. It is really worth having it rolled at a shop. We were doing all our rolls on site and the tubing is pritty exspensive. At least if you get the rolls you need they will match. Its worth the money, not the head ache. I have some pics but i dont know how to add them.
I had a friend use his roller to roll out some steel and it left little bite marks in it, not bad on steel but I could imagine a ton of work to get a high quality finish on a piece of stainless. If you have a roller and can find the rubber Dave is talking about then it might be beneficial
If your like me, have no roller I usually call Wagner,
http://www.wagnercompanies.com/Home.aspx You can have them finish it however you want or unfinished. Priced out some stainless from them a few weeks ago and was amazed at how much they could do it for.
Shawn,
If you ever get up to Soddy Daisey, TN you could check out my friend's work at breezinmetalworks.com
QCRobert
I pm the OP his contact so he could talk to him or even have him make the kit.
Nice work. I get down that way every once in awhile, will have to look him up and do some name droppin', "that guy Robert from the AWS site....aye...." LOL!!
I liked the one picture in his work in progress album that showed that curvy set of stairs up against the office in the shop! Looks like how I've built some stuff around here to get it right! Was glad to see I'm not the only one!
Phaux, you need a rolling machine I have a Eagle roll machine . Look up Eagle bending machines out of alabama I believe. Model # CP- 40 rolls up to 2 1/2 scd. 80 . Have rolled 1 1/2 scd. 80 aluminum , 2" scd.80 S.S. and of course lots of mild steel pipe and square tube. Never marred or ruined finishes that couldn't be sanded/buffed out.
I just purchased and started testing a new Bailiegh RM 55 for a couple of projects getting done. Rolls like a wet dream on the 2 X 2 X .125 wall A500 but there is some serious scaring on the material from the dies. There are nylon roller dies available that eliminate the roll marks and are usually used on stainless and high end finish material. Bailiegh rep indicated there could be slippage problems without the knurling on the dies, but I intend to price some machinist produces nylon dies to experiment. I'd like to make the tool start paying for itself, but that said, my lack of experience with the fabrication of rolled radius wouldn't yet be cost effective for the railings the poster is looking at. I had planned to use the Hossfeld for the radii, but they are too large- 40- 100 ft. radii and the feedalong dies for Hossfeld pretty much top out at 196". Cumminsguy's suggestion to ask Wagner Co. is good advise, they can fabricate about anything railing wise. Don't know about their pricing, would appreciate any info that would help me stay competitive. Care to share any of the Wagner quotes for rolling Cumminsguy?
The only thing's I have hand done so far are the bronze rail, which was crazy expensive just for the material. Seems it was around 10 feet long, followed across three long steps, the bronze plus the bends(2) was around $1200, probably not a good example!
I just had them price out a stainless pool rail. It was the type that is along the side where you can climb out of the deep end. They had three bends each, two pieces but they were not just straight up and down, they flared out a bit, some type of "California" style. Think they quoted me $400-450 shipped. I couldn't buy them online from pool place for less than $550! Plus the ones from Wagner are made in the USA!!
Think I had them price out one or two other things but can't remember off hand, didn't get jobs so not in my memory banks.
