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Technical Bead roller help

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by lilclay81, Dec 3, 2018.

  1. lilclay81
    Joined: Jul 24, 2007
    Posts: 133

    lilclay81
    Member
    from illinois

    Looking for some good advice on some of the pros from here on picking out a powered bead roller to make floor pans and some other peices. Any help or suggestions would greatly be appreciated
     
  2. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I'm not a pro and I "just" have the hand operated Eastwood one but I'd say buy the best one you can afford reasonably. By reasonably I mean what your budget allows for as we all have different toy budgets and it isn't cool to assume that a guy either has a tight budget or an unlimited budget for shop stuff we aren't going to use to make a living with if we don't know them well.
     
  3. rockable
    Joined: Dec 21, 2009
    Posts: 4,429

    rockable
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    How often are you going to use it? That is really the big question. I have a modified and stiffened HF bead roller with a bit tractor steering wheel on it in place of the crank. I've made firewalls, bumper filler panels and floor pan pieces with it but it largely sits unused......until I need it again. If I were making pieces on a regular basis, you bet I would have a nice electric powered one that I could play with. Mine gets me where I'm going and doesn't take up a lot of space.
     
    seb fontana and Hombre like this.
  4. fiftyv8
    Joined: Mar 11, 2007
    Posts: 5,394

    fiftyv8
    Member
    from CO & WA

    Well, I've started constructing my homemade powered bead roller.
    I have scanned this and other sites and looked at numerous pictures on the internet which eventually had my head spinning.

    I made a check list of the features I thought might be useful which included, that it be;
    • Powered
    • On a stand
    • Relatively easy to move
    • Have a throat of at least 24 inches good for floor panels
    • Have a side offset adjustment
    • A quick release which holds existing settings
    • Run 1 inch shafts which step down to 7/8" for dies
    • An adjustable guide
    • Made mostly from stuff that I have in my stash
    • Run standard 2 inch dies
    • Run keyways on all shafts, even if not used
    • Foot pedal stop/start or variable speed your choice. (I chose stop/start)
    • Forward and reverse direction function.

    I believe all the big name bead roller manufacturers like Mittler Bros, Baileigh and Eastwood
    all have YouTube promotion videos, watch them, that would be a good start in my book.

    Any powered unit really needs to have decent variable speed range which gives you fast enough speeds to do straight runs which don't take forever to complete as well as slow enough speeds to do any tricky curves and intricate work you may choose to attempt as your skill level improves.
    IMHO a shaft speed between say 3 to 7 rpm would be reasonable, but lest see what the experts say...

    Happy hunting.
     
    MMM1693, Hnstray and Texas Webb like this.

  5. brigrat
    Joined: Nov 9, 2007
    Posts: 5,615

    brigrat
    Member
    from Wa.St.

    No Pro Here Either But;
    Here's a modified Woodward Fab I converted to foot feed power and a reverser....................................
     

    Attached Files:

    ottoman, Hnstray and The37Kid like this.
  6. lilclay81
    Joined: Jul 24, 2007
    Posts: 133

    lilclay81
    Member
    from illinois

    Thats a nice set up.
     
  7. dodgedifferent2
    Joined: Mar 8, 2006
    Posts: 136

    dodgedifferent2
    Member

  8. lilclay81
    Joined: Jul 24, 2007
    Posts: 133

    lilclay81
    Member
    from illinois

    I wont be using it alot it will sit after i do this project. Just like any other tool buy.
     
  9. lilclay81
    Joined: Jul 24, 2007
    Posts: 133

    lilclay81
    Member
    from illinois

    Agree with what you have to say. Dont have a huge budget just want something decent but powered dont always have an extra hand in,the shop.
     
  10. lilclay81
    Joined: Jul 24, 2007
    Posts: 133

    lilclay81
    Member
    from illinois

    Where did you get the motor and foot control setup if you dont mind me asking.
     
  11. brigrat
    Joined: Nov 9, 2007
    Posts: 5,615

    brigrat
    Member
    from Wa.St.

    delcar, here on the HAMB classifieds used to sell (still might) "kits".
    The On/ON switch is for the reverser...............................
     

    Attached Files:

    Chavezk21 likes this.
  12. Bailiegh offers a motor driven bead roll

    Power Bead Roller BR-18E-24
    $1,195.00
    In stock

    • 110V electric bead roller
    • 16 gauge mild steel capacity
    • 24” throat depth
    • Variable-speed foot pedal control
    new_br_18e_24_web.jpg

    They also offer a good discount to alliance members, spend 50 bucks with Ryan and save a lot more that 50 bucks in savings when you buy from Bailiegh. HRP
     
    XXL__ likes this.
  13. lilclay81
    Joined: Jul 24, 2007
    Posts: 133

    lilclay81
    Member
    from illinois

     
  14. lilclay81
    Joined: Jul 24, 2007
    Posts: 133

    lilclay81
    Member
    from illinois

    Okay thanks I'll have to check him out for sure.
     
  15. The37Kid
    Joined: Apr 30, 2004
    Posts: 30,627

    The37Kid
    Member

    [​IMG] Glad you found a use for that quick change.


    Bob
     
    brigrat likes this.
  16. Da Tinman
    Joined: Dec 29, 2005
    Posts: 4,222

    Da Tinman
    Member

    I got one of these for the skewl and it is by far the best bead roller I have ever used.
     
  17. fiftyv8
    Joined: Mar 11, 2007
    Posts: 5,394

    fiftyv8
    Member
    from CO & WA

    I am going the more tradition route using a half Ford banjo diff tube as my post base.
    Who said I was not a traditional hot rod guy...
    Just running with what I have in my stash.
     

    Attached Files:

  18. For me it was a matter of is my time or money more valuable? I have so little time as it is to work on projects I wasn't going to waste the little time I have modifying a cheap bread roller to power it. I did own one but it was pretty much impossible to use alone on any sizable panel so I bought a mittler bros aluminum bodied roller and it has worked great.

    Sent from my SM-G950W using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  19. brigrat
    Joined: Nov 9, 2007
    Posts: 5,615

    brigrat
    Member
    from Wa.St.

    "I have so little time as it is to work on projects I wasn't going to waste the little time I have modifying a cheap bread roller to power it."
    Well at the time I had $500 to spend on one, not $1200 for a Bailiegh. Did I mention it has a reverser!

    Sent from my SM-G950W using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  20. Canuck
    Joined: Jan 4, 2002
    Posts: 1,104

    Canuck
    Member

    Started with a Eastwood budget bead roller. Had a little flex in the frame so welded up a "U" frame on one site to firm it up. Found the crank handle awkward to use to made up a wheel to get a smooth turn on the dies. Smoothed the surface of the dies to cut down on the marking of the metal. The hardest part was a power drive so I settled on a infinite variable speed with reverse and instead of a foot control oped for the latest tech, "Voice Control" . Works great.
    IMG_0051.JPG
     
  21. fiftyv8
    Joined: Mar 11, 2007
    Posts: 5,394

    fiftyv8
    Member
    from CO & WA

    Trouble with some of those voice control units they get tired and/or answer back, hahahaha...
    Although it looks like you may have scored a good one.
     
    50 customcoupe likes this.
  22. GordonC
    Joined: Mar 6, 2006
    Posts: 3,141

    GordonC
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Look at the guns she's developing while helping you out! Great pic!:D
     
  23. My voice control talks back, is very sensitive and can be troublesome at times. I'm working on an interlink so I can use Siri.
     
    50 customcoupe likes this.
  24. Blue One
    Joined: Feb 6, 2010
    Posts: 11,459

    Blue One
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Alberta

    hrm2k, 50 customcoupe and saltflats like this.
  25. oj
    Joined: Jul 27, 2008
    Posts: 6,454

    oj
    Member

    I have the ProTools powered bead roller, mines 20 years old and is starting to get weak - It's a beafy piece that I've never felt the need to 'improve', I probably did too much 16ga steel on it. A buddy hase the Mittler Bros and the ProTools is the better machine for less money, I believe they are under $800. This stuff is getting stupid expensive, I just paid $139 for a couple of hammers. We are just nuts, totally nuts. ProTools is in Florida, if you need it for google, they make pro grade tools for the race car fabricators.
     
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  26. e015475
    Joined: Jul 25, 2013
    Posts: 107

    e015475
    Member
    from Phoenix
    1. A-D Truckers

    Here's mine - direct drive with a HF ATV winch. It will creep very slow or about an inch per second with the pedal all the way down.
    [​IMG]
    The winch drive and bead roller are coupled with Lovejoy couplings.
    [​IMG]
    I tried welding the HF spline drive to the Lovejoy, but it appears that it is some type of sintered metal soaked in oil and it went in the trash can. I filed a nut a little to fit tight in the female spline on the winch and welded it to the Lovejoy.
    [​IMG]
    The electronics consist of a 20a DC power supply, a PWM module and a used guitar wawa pedal. The only trick was finding a wawa pedal that had a potentiometer with the same resistance as the PWM module. A toggle switch reverses the motor direction. All were sourced from ebay for less than $50 for all three pieces.
    [​IMG]
    Most of my bead roller project are smaller steel pieces or aluminum and I've never bothered to stiffen it up. I've run five or six projects through it, but it isn't used very much.

    If you think you'll only use it once, I'd consider buying a Mittler or a Baleigh (or Pro Tools) and sell it when done.
     
    Boulderdash likes this.
  27. fiftyv8
    Joined: Mar 11, 2007
    Posts: 5,394

    fiftyv8
    Member
    from CO & WA

    My gal ain't much of a voice controlled type when it comes to bead rolling, but man I can put her on hand sanding all day long and she loves it.
    When I did my F100 pickup engine bay, I just gave her a hand to climb into the empty engine bay and she dun sanded the two fender aprons and the whole of the firewall down to shinny metal ready for fresh paint.
     
    MMM1693 likes this.
  28. manyolcars
    Joined: Mar 30, 2001
    Posts: 9,174

    manyolcars

    Fiftyv8. Does she have a sister? :)
     
  29. saltflats
    Joined: Aug 14, 2007
    Posts: 12,592

    saltflats
    Member
    from Missouri

    I bought a Pro Tools bead roller kit back in the 90s. Works good, but don't get to use it as much as I would like.
     
    oj likes this.
  30. fiftyv8
    Joined: Mar 11, 2007
    Posts: 5,394

    fiftyv8
    Member
    from CO & WA

    Yeah, she does but sadly her nick name is the SARGENT and she is one tough customer.
    Not big but no fear and handy to have with you in a bar fight...
     
    MMM1693, Rocky72 and Hombre like this.

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