Technical Bead Roller Do's & Not Don'ts?

Adding a new tool to the arsenal, a power Bead Roller, 18" throat, 18 gage max, etc. Any input on maximizing it's use? Do's & Don'ts ?
First question, do I cut my exact perimeter THEN roll the beads or roll the beads than cut perimeter to fit location? Will the shape shrink because of rolling beads? Thanks?

 

Always best to leave the metal larger than you need and trim it to size when you're ready to fit/weld (within reason of course). The depth and how close together the beads are will vary how much the metal will distort from rolling beads. You can pre-stretch the area where the bead is going by rolling it in the english wheel ahead of time or carefully raising the area with a hammer in the sandbag. There's a bunch of videos showing pre-stretching on YouTube if you have some time to waste.

Get yourself some step/tipping dies and really open up your possibilities of what you can do with a bead roller.

 

I normally leave extra around the edges for final figment on my panels, this also helps with keeping the panels from warping . A little practice goes along ways . Make a few things to hang in your garage to get some practice .


Sent from the frozen North

 

Make sure you can access everything and have a plan for how you are going to roll everything you want to roll BEFORE you start rolling. Nothing worse than getting part way through a project and realizing you have designed something that cannot be rolled due to the depth of your machine. I always do a dry run with the rolls open to make sure everything is accessible.

 

I always allow for shrinkage as strange as it sounds but the metal seforms just enough to cause problems if you pre fit the piece. HRP

 

Pictures or it's just a Christmas wish!

 

Would love to see examples of what can be done. To date, something I have given little thought to owning or using. But ditto to a lot in my shop that I felt the same about, but now use frequently.

Sent from my SM-T377V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

X2 on the tipping dies.

 

This one is not mine BUT I did buy the motor, reverser & foot pedal from the HAMB classifieds. Waiting for it to show up than order a Bead Roller of my liking to adapt it to. Supposedly you just take off the hand crank, install couplers and wallaa you have 2 hands to hold your metal......................

 

Do: Keep an eye on all ten fingers, AT ALL TIMES!

 

I only have 7 to begin with!

 

Well then, you don't have any to spare...

 

...and you're buying KNIVES???

 

I was just trying to pull alchemy's chain, I have all my parts it's just that some don't work as well as when I was a kid! He has a good point, I hate pain......................................

 

Do your homework before you buy the roller. Most of the inexpensive ones need to be reinforced to work on 18 guage. Lots of information on the Internet on what others have done to strengthen them.

 

I've learned a few tricks:

1. When laying out a path to run a bead around a corner don't just draw a radius to connect the straight runs. Draw an entire circle at each radius (I often use an aerosol can to do this). That helps to guide the piece around the curve in a consistent path, as you can gauge where the center of the arc is much more easily.

2. It helps to planish the path of the dies ahead of time to pre-stretch the metal locally. This will eliminate panel warpage.

3. I know yours is powered, but for those with hand cranked beaders throw the crank away, replace it with a large steering wheel. is will enable you to more easily guide large panels thru the dies without having to rotate your arm - and thus your entire body - around in an arc. It also gives you better control when just bumping up to a fixed stopping point or joggling into an extreme depth setting.

4. A skate board wheel makes a good bottom wheel for tipping. Freeze it if you have to machine the I.D. or O.D. to suit.

 

Find a thread on here called Custom bead rolling by kiwi kev. 24 pages and lots of pics.

 

I'm sure I'll get flamed for this but since the OP put extra emphasis on his wording I decided to fix it for him. It drives me crazy that no one seems to remember that "then" and "than" are two entirely different words with entirely different uses.

 

^^^^^My mind knows the diff., my fingers don't seem to care!^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

You need a hole in your pocket to count to 10.

 

I kind of have given up on correcting mistakes; you get roasted and I too make the occasional mistake. But 11 years teaching English it has become part of my DNA.

 

That's the last time I'll ask you to play the piano at my party!

 

Well he could get away with two finger cords and use the other five for the melody line.. HAMB friendly "Litle Deuce Coupe" of course.

 

Don't use Beads, they are ugly and a pain in the ass, shrinking stretching warping crap.

I've had beads crack at the bases under high frequency vibrations.

Use the Step Rolls much cleaner and easier. They won't cause the panel to shrink at all so you can fit it properly then add the rolls. If the edges of the Steps are to sharp it will create a stress riser and will cause cracks, light radius there works wonders.

Tipping dies allow you do crazy things and are a lot of fun but you'll need a shrinker/stretcher to take full advantage of them.

I may also be full of shit.........

 

So if you've already put beads in a panel and it warped the metal, can you do something to reverse the distortion?


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

As someone who is still in the process of discovering all the joys of having a bead roller, shrinkers and stretchers and a brake, let me say, he is NOT full of shit! No sir!!

 

Sometimes running it back and forth over your knee or the edge of a table will help. If the beads are straight and you stopped before the edge of the panel you can shrink the flat part at the end of the beads and that will help.

Throwing a bucket of magic cuss words at it wont help but you will feel better.

 

More grammar 101

Going TO town TWO times is TOO many.

 

Perfect!

Thanks to Bigrat for NOT pointing out I was being a big asshole! (Sometimes you gotta go with your strengths....and sometimes MY strength is being an asshole, sorry. Lol)

 

Thanks to Bigrat for NOT pointing out I was being a big asshole! (Sometimes you gotta go with your strengths....and sometimes MY strength is being an asshole, sorry. Lol)[/QUOTE]

It's brigrat with an r.................... were even now!