guys is there any interest in me approaching a local machine shop buddy to make harbour freight bead roller dies. I hoping he can make these dies for a reasonable price .. for us that use the HF roller it would be nice to have a dies assortment ... Any suggestions designs ....?
IMO, the dies aren't really the problem with the HF beader. It's the frame that's the weak part. I bought the HF beader for the dies. I think you'd have a pretty limited market...'cept maybe for some tipping dies. I do wish they were splined or at least keyed, though.... but they haven't really given me any problems since I put some beefage on the frame.
how big are the dies on a hf bead roller. your best bet would be to adapt the mittler bros dies to the hf roller then you would have a lot of dies to choose from.
Hey, Keep in mind that if you're shoppin' "tipping dies" and haven't beefed up that "fine China steel " frame that you'll be pissin' in the wind, and wonderin' why ya got wet! Swankey Devils C.C. "Meanwhile, back aboard The Tainted pork"
I believe Hoosier Pattern sells a tipping die for the HF roller. www.hoosierpattern.com They also sell tipping dies for the Pro Tools roller as well. Tim @ www.irrationalmetalworks.com
I have the Horrible Freight roller and a nice Pro Tools roller. The pro Tools uses the same size dies as Mittler Bros., and many other quality rollers. The HF is a bastard size, both the overall dia and the shaft.
I am interested in tipping dies as well as a flat top bead. Here is a link that shows the variety of dies available for the Mittler Bros. roller. .. Food for thought. http://www.vansantent.com/sheet_metal_machines/bead_roller.htm N B R