Ring Roller

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Bonehead

Skull Master
Joined
May 11, 2007
Messages
12,242
Location
Fruita, Colorado
Today I want to bring up ring rollers. I know some of you have them in your shops, some of you have probably built them. They are handy for a fabricator, and make turning out circles, and arcs.
I bought mine. I was in a rush for a project I was working on, and short on time. It would be easy to build one, and if some one wants I will give a detailed look at mine for a pattern.
You've seen the one on American Chopper that looks like a ships wheel. Mine has about a 30 inch handle. I have built alot of things with mine, like steering wheels, spider webs, spiral staircase parts, chandeliers, tons of small parts. They make dies for all kinds of materials too.
 

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cool roller Bonehead .. I'd like to see some detail shots if you have time of how it works i'd like to build one
 
I thought I would show you guys some of the projects I have made that involved my ringroller. Not really car related, and I can't believe how many projects I have used it on. Here are only a few.
 

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Here are some more.
 

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Okay back to the thread....

You can see the ring roller in the backgound. Basically it is a small piece of I beam in a box. The rectangular frame is made to fit around the I beam pretty snug. There is a hydrolic jack between the top of the frame and the I beam. The top roller is attached to the beam which can move up and down in the frame. The bottom two rollers are attached to the frame. The handle is built onto sprockets on the back which drives the two bottom rollers with a chain. So the shafts that come off the bottom two rollers go all the way through the frame and have sprockets on them. The handle is attached to a sprocket which drives the other sprockets with a roller chain.

The rollers themselves have groves across them kind of like the edge of a dime. This gives them traction to pull the steel through.
 

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Wow!

Bonehead,
Thanks for that... I've never heard of such but can see where that would be a great tool to have!

BoB
 
I built this thing a while back and had to have the main sections bent for me. The main beams are 4 1/2 inch OD schedule 40 pipe. They were bent on a giant version of what I have. They have a about a 25 foot span.
 

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I'd like to have one of those. It's one of those tools that I probably wouldn't use all that often but when it's needed, there's no real replacement for it.

I check out all of that cool stuff that you make on your website every so often Bonehead. Very impressive indeed.
 
Thanks Gastrick, That means alot coming from a craftsman such as your self.


Here is a homemade Ring roller. It is a little big but looks like it would work.
 

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Very nice Bonehead my wife really liked the train. Kinda got me in trouble showing them to her now she wants one lol
 
I am going to sneak in one more of my favorite oddball machines in here. This is how I built my seats. The tool is a rebar-bender but it makes great driveshaft loops, and will bend 3/4 inch solid bar in a 90 degree or 180 in about 2 seconds. It comes with an assortment of rollers to change the arc of the bend. This is an extremely powerful, (and dangerous) machine.
When I am not using it for fun, I use it nearly daily in fabrication.
 

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wow

Bone, you my man are a true fabricator, you truly have a great imagination and the know how to see the project to the end.....can i follow you around a day or two and learn a little..i say this because i am so scared to do something in fear that i will screw it up..lol
 
Thanks Banjoman. I love working with steel for that reason. Mistakes are easy to fix. You cut a 2x4 too short, throw it away. Steel on the other hand just weld right back up.
 
Neat equipment. Sure beats my method of bending steel using clamped down pulleys and other round stuff, and heating them cherry red. :D:D

Tools really do make the job so much better and easier. Nice things you have built too Bonehead, very artsy and professional looking.

Don
 

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bonehead - awe machines and equally awesome work. You are a true artist..:D

And don - you are a true poor working mans hero.. I need to make a couple of your tools.. I think I can afford a pulley or two.
 
ring roller

Bonehead - can your ring roller handle square tubing?
I'm thinking 11ga X 1" X 1".
Fred
 
Yes and no, 3/4 inch works the best, it makes a smooth bend. 1 inch starts to take the tubing out of a square, and kind of bell shapes a little. I built a 15 foot arch with 1 inch and it was okay, but the smaller bends are not so good. 3/4 inch makes a 18 inch circle in good shape. The make dies for angle iron, but I built my own gizzmo to tweak on angle iron.
 

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