DIY bender with rollers

[hibbs]

I picked up a couple rollers that are for screen doors from Lowes. They can be found in the hardware department. They give a nice smooth bend, and for me make a better bend than using bolts as I was doing before. Just thought I'd share what worked for me. They are only ~$5 for 2 of them.

[Crimson Rock Crawler]

Thanks for posting!! I'm going to have to try those rollers for making a bender.

[smoedog]

Will that work for rectangular tubing

[hibbs]

I should mention you'll want to clamp one down to make it immobile. If they both roll it's difficult to hold your piece still when bending.

As for square tubing... I don't think this would be the best way for square tubing. I'd say use two bolts mounted close together. Then with large washers clamp down on the square tubing so that when you bend it against the bolts, it won't be able to deform upwards or downwards (due to the washer and the work surface clamping against it.

I've never tried square tubing. I think that's a more difficult animal, though I'm not sure. I think your best bet is to use generous amounts of heat, until cherry red, then bend away. That should get you a reasonable result. If you're talking about aluminum or brass however, heat won't help too much.

Good luck

[benster]

good idea, thanks for it.

[Szczerba]

I found these door rollers a while back as well. I welded some 3/16" rod to hold the rollers and act like a stop. Mine holds two different size rollers. Smaller roller pictured. I have to use a small scrap piece of metal to increase the stop with this smaller roller. I welded the stop to fit the larger roller.

They work good!

[hibbs]

Now if only we could figure out a way to get perfectly squared bends. What I mean is that after making 2+ bends, when you lay it on a flat surface it doesn't rock. I can get close but usually have to tweak it some. I have been thinking that using a large flat piece of metal to mount the rollers to would allow you to let the piece lie against the flat surface when bending, keeping all bends in the same plane.

Also, I saw a fellow on here (I think his name was Neil, a UK man making a beautiful brass chassised Jeep JK.) that had a square tubing (~1" or so) handle with a rod attached to it just past the stop. That way he could use the handle to push the tubing around the roller. I believe this would give great consistency to your bends instead of pushing with your hands which allows the tubing to start bending where it wants to. If that makes any sense...