Making your own rolls. (dies)

[TheRodDoc]

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[Duck]

Richard,

A grand idea. Opens up a whole new world of possibilities. The color of your drawings reminded me of a nylon type of material that we used to machine
Which made me wonder if anyone has had any success with making the rolls from a nylon or a UHMW. They sure would be a lot quicker to machine than cold rolled.

Good job. Thanks for sharing.

Duck

[Gonejunking]

Richard
You said you use nothing but the end bolt to hold the dies, don't you have some kind of index pin to hold one of the dies stationary to the shaft? On my Niagra, it has a pin to keep the die from rotating on the shaft, and the end bolt is just to keep the die on the shaft.

[FriarTuck]

Nice drawings, what do you use for CAD?
Tuck

[Oldtin]

Richard, That is a very cool idea. For some reason I always think about how to make a specialised die set, your method would make it easy to combine several of the profiles that I need to make.

Its kind of like stacking shaper cutters for cabinetry work. More profiles, fewer tools.:idea: :idea: :idea: :D

Les Edmundson

[Peter Miles]

I don't know about just using an end bolt, but I can tell you that just using set screws on a stepped shaft for 50 or more years yields really chewed up shafts.

This old Pexto shows that.

http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/data/3842/Pexto_Upper_2_.JPG


Note the reduced throat and the bracing straps. On the other side of the machine, a casting repair can be seen.

http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/data/3842/medium/Bead_Roller_Axles_2_2_.JPG

That upper shaft is chewed up enough that it is difficult to decide what diameter it is really supposed to be (or maybe I'm just not good enough!).

There are set screw point scars, turned/slipped setscrew scars, and drilled-out setscrew scars.

I haven't gotten the lower die off its shaft yet. I have to get the axle nut to break loose and it is difficult to get to. I don't have any sockets thin-walled enough and various other things that I have tried haven't been successful yet either.

[Boogiemanz1]

Cool tool Richard. I mix and match dies to get different shapes, and on an embossing machine I build I made a bunch of spacers to allow the position of the die to change and even allow for two dies at one time.

However this has possibilities I hadn't considered. I use step dies to do wide bead work, but this would create a rounder bead.

I use key slots to keep my dies from slipping, and use split shaft collars to locate them giving me the opportunity to change them quickly. A quarter turn with an allen wrench and it's off and absolutly no shaft scarring..............Thanks for sharing..............john

[anders nørgaard]

I haven't gotten the lower die off its shaft yet. I have to get the axle nut to break loose and it is difficult to get to. I don't have any sockets thin-walled enough and various other things that I have tried haven't been successful yet either.

Hi Peter,
Is it possible that the lower axle nut is "left threaded?".... That's the way it is on a Fasti (brand in DK...... $1200 + :o )

[gregfri]

Thanks Richard for sharing your pics of the dies.I for one will copy some of your ideas.I built my first bead roller about 10 years ago, been using it ever since with only an end bolt holding on my dies.The shaft is slightly shorter than the outer edge of my dies and I use a thick, cupped washer to apply pressure against the dies.The inside of my dies are up against a collar tightened to the shaft.I always meant to cut keyways in the shafts and dies but found it was not needed. Greg

[edwardd_]

John,

The idea of embossing sound interesting too. Would you be willing to share some pictures? It helps the tired brain attempt to understand it.

Maybe a group gallery of Bead Roller Dies might be helpful.

TIA.

[Avalonjr]

Richard,
Are you driving both shafts or only the bottom shaft with your gear reducer?

How big are the shafts outboard of the bearings?... That is to say, what is the ID of your rollers?

It is impressive that you can form such thick sheets with your machine.

[Doug98105]

Richard,

Which made me wonder if anyone has had any success with making the rolls from a nylon or a UHMW. They sure would be a lot quicker to machine than cold rolled.

Duck

Here're pic of dies made of Delrin. Kind of expensive material, but I had 20 feet of 3" diameter left over from a customer job so used it rather than buy another type plastic.

These are kind of extreme in width, we were rolling curved copper flashing and wanted the complete profile done in a single set of rolls. These have no drive keys or pins, bolt on end is all that holds these rolls.

http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/data/500/medium/copper-die.jpg

Here's a pic of a combination plastic/metal set of rolls on the lathe. These were for another copper rolling job. The plastic roll doesn't mark the exposed side of the copper, the aluminum roll provides strength on the back side where marking doesn't matter.


http://www.metalmeet.com/photopost/data/500/medium/roll-turn.jpg


Another combination I've used is a plain cylindrical soft urethane roll (like a skate board wheel) combined with a profiled metal roll. This works well for shallow profiles. The advantge here is only one roll needs to be turned.

Doug

[Ron Naida]

Doug,

You always come up with innovative tooling and applications. And the pictures of your work are intriguing. The homes you do the architectural trimwork on must be impressive.

Ron Naida

[Duck]

Doug,
Thanks for the pics of your rolls. Nice job. I have some UHMW laying around that I'm going to turn to make a beading roll for my Anglia fenders. I dreaded turning them from CRS. The plastic will be a lot quicker to fine tune.
From your post they should work fine, if they don't it won't be the first thing to hit the bottom of the scrap barrel in my shop.

Duck

[edwardd_]

Would it be possible to make rolls like these for SS?

[Boogiemanz1]

David, I doubt you could get much definition in SS using UHMW, but if your is thin enough ..............

I'll try to get a picture of my embossing machine up for you.....john

[edwardd_]

John,

Did you get a chance to find / take a picture of your embossing machine???



David, I doubt you could get much definition in SS using UHMW, but if your is thin enough ..............

I'll try to get a picture of my embossing machine up for you.....john