Roll bending tubing

[ecoli]

Curious if anyone has found a good technique for roll bending smaller tubing (i.e. 3/16" steel)? I know I've done a bit in the past with large soup cans, etc., but if someone has a more "savvy" set-up, I'd be interested in seeing how they're doing it

For those who don't know what I mean by roll bending, an example of a 1:1 frame with lots of roll bends in it:

[Erin]

Micro mark has one, but its not up to large music wire. I've also been looking for sumthing more exact then whatevers lyi g around the house.

[@tw!ll]

I've been eyeing this one on ebay.

Here's the link to the auction
http://cgi.ebay.com/Gear-Driven-Plan...item27b72a88d4

[ecoli]

I like that ebay one. Looks like the same sort of set-up as the Baileigh's. Bastards won't ship to Canada though !

Might still see about fabbing one up myself. Just need the appropriate sized rollers and an adjustable top roller.

[C*H*U*D]

That one looks similar to the one sold by Harbor Freight which also looks like the Baileigh R-M3. At $250 the Baileigh is out of my price range and at $70 I'm a bit skeptical of the Harbor Freight unit. The Harbor Freight unit is also backordered so that leaves that one out.

I decided to make my own since I also need one for an upcoming scaler project, and I had all the material sitting around. I hope to have a working unit in about a week and will start a thread on it here in the tools section.

[SMR 510RR]

Originally Posted by @tw!ll

I've been eyeing this one on ebay.

Here's the link to the auction
http://cgi.ebay.com/Gear-Driven-Plan...item27b72a88d4

That thing looks sick minus the price and the $24 shipping. Must be coming from the freaking moon for $24.

[@tw!ll]

Yah, I'm gonna guess they haven't seen the usps flat rate commercials yet

[ecoli]

Originally Posted by SMR 510RR

That thing looks sick minus the price and the $24 shipping. Must be coming from the freaking moon for $24.

Originally Posted by @tw!ll

Yah, I'm gonna guess they haven't seen the usps flat rate commercials yet

You guys are spoiled in the US, $24 shipping is a deal up here

Originally Posted by C*H*U*D

That one looks similar to the one sold by Harbor Freight which also looks like the Baileigh R-M3. At $250 the Baileigh is out of my price range and at $70 I'm a bit skeptical of the Harbor Freight unit. The Harbor Freight unit is also backordered so that leaves that one out.

I decided to make my own since I also need one for an upcoming scaler project, and I had all the material sitting around. I hope to have a working unit in about a week and will start a thread on it here in the tools section.

Geez, I didn't even look to see if Baileigh carried one for small tubing I figured they dealt in larger diameter stuff only, since that's all I've seen on Pirate. Oh well, out of my price range too.

Interested in seeing what you come up with. It doesn't seem all that complicated, a couple of fixed rollers, one adjustable roller, and a handle to crank the tubing through. Just need to make sure the rollers are grippy enough to hold on to the tubing.

[EvilPlots]

Originally Posted by ecoli

You guys are spoiled in the US, $24 shipping is a deal up here



Geez, I didn't even look to see if Baileigh carried one for small tubing I figured they dealt in larger diameter stuff only, since that's all I've seen on Pirate. Oh well, out of my price range too.

Interested in seeing what you come up with. It doesn't seem all that complicated, a couple of fixed rollers, one adjustable roller, and a handle to crank the tubing through. Just need to make sure the rollers are grippy enough to hold on to the tubing.

If these are anything like the much larger cnc version I use at work, they use the clamping pressure between the 3 dies to grip the tubing and the top wheel drives the tubing through. Trust me, you do not want to get your finger in there... I would use drill rod or something similar in strength for the shafts the dies go on, they take a lot of strain.

[F1GHTF1R3W1THF1Re.]

Originally Posted by EvilPlots

If these are anything like the much larger cnc version I use at work, they use the clamping pressure between the 3 dies to grip the tubing and the top wheel drives the tubing through. Trust me, you do not want to get your finger in there... I would use drill rod or something similar in strength for the shafts the dies go on, they take a lot of strain.

It's only 3/16 tubing, stainless would be fine for the shafts.

[EvilPlots]

I was thinking for doing rod as well but stainless would probably do for that too. It is a screwdown clamp instead of hydraulic lol.

[ecoli]

Went the easy route and picked up a planetary ring roller locally:

http://www.princessauto.com/workshop...ry-ring-roller

Rolls 1/4" stainless steel tubing like butter. Should be no problem on 3/16".

[jetboat]

I found this online last night... http://www.micromark.com/BENDING-MACHINE,7739.html

funny thing is, as soon as I saw it I instantly thought of the xtreme buggy

[YoUnG_vErSiOn]

make a table top jig using pins.fill tubes with sand

[ecoli]

Originally Posted by jetboat

I found this online last night... http://www.micromark.com/BENDING-MACHINE,7739.html

funny thing is, as soon as I saw it I instantly thought of the xtreme buggy

Only does up to 1/8" tubing though. Might be good for smaller frames.

Originally Posted by young_version

make a table top jig using pins.fill tubes with sand

Works well for "short" bends. For roll bends like I'm after, it isn't very effective, I've tried !

[sickness]

http://catalog2.genpt.com/catviewer1...000_0006404103

I just picked this up from work, works slick, just takes some getting used to.

[C*H*U*D]

Originally Posted by ecoli

Went the easy route and picked up a planetary ring roller locally:

http://www.princessauto.com/workshop...ry-ring-roller

Rolls 1/4" stainless steel tubing like butter. Should be no problem on 3/16".

Time never allowed me to get mine finished, but I found the Baileigh online for $140 so I bought it. Got it yesterday and brought it into work to try it out. It works great and will roll 3/16" down to 3" diameter. I think I paid too much though since it looks no different than others out there for under $100. Oh well, at least I can start that next 2.2 build now.

[SMR 510RR]

Here is the cheapest one I have seen. They all look almost exactly the same.

http://www.harborfreight.com/gear-dr...ler-36790.html

[C*H*U*D]

Originally Posted by SMR 510RR

Here is the cheapest one I have seen. They all look almost exactly the same.

http://www.harborfreight.com/gear-dr...ler-36790.html

I think they are all the same, shipped from the same plant in China. My goof is your gain....buy the inexpensive unit unless you want to pay $40 extra for a Baileigh sticker.

[SMR 510RR]

Originally Posted by C*H*U*D

buy the inexpensive unit unless you want to pay $40 extra for a Baileigh sticker.

Does the sticker have sparkles on it?