Sheet metal rolling tool

[mk]

Thanks to Bill H. here.

I wouldn't have thought such a simple tool improves building pipe/conical sections out of sheet metal that much. Very nice and even precise with some patience and good eye-balling.

The tool was hacked together in about an hour, including the search for things.

I'm using 600mm/23.6" of 27mm OD/0.5" fitting/plumping pipe.
The support is a bit different, as you can see.

[Bruno Ogorelec]

Looks like one of the absolute essentials for a pulsejet workshop.

[hinote]

Thanks to Bill H. here.

I wouldn't have thought such a simple tool improves building pipe/conical sections out of sheet metal that much. Very nice and even precise with some patience and good eye-balling.

Finally--a true believer!!

Marten, thanks for validating my concept.

Bill H.
Acoustic Propulsion Concepts

".......some day soon we'll be flying airplanes powered by pulsejets."

[Dave]

Today I built my first Hinote Slip Roller.

It uses a 16" piece of 1" pipe with the base being made from two welded pieces of angle iron. The maximum usable length is about 14". As with Martin's version, it will be clamped in a vice during use.

The only slight functional difference is that I left the cross piece on the U-bolts to set the initial space for the sheet metal to slide through.

No more time this weekend, so the first test will have to come later.

Dave

[Bruno Ogorelec]

Are we seeing a 'Hinote Revolution' in the making?

[JetSet]

Are we seeing a 'Hinote Revolution' in the making?

I think so, I have one too :lol:

[luc]

Nice work Dave,

Nice carpet too. I hope this is not your living room carpet, or I know someone which will fall on your case very hard ... he he he.

Nice work,

Cya,

Luc

[hinote]

Are we seeing a 'Hinote Revolution' in the making?

NOO--not that!

I'll go with Hinote Criteria, and Hinote slip roller--but that's it!

Bill H.
Acoustic Propulsion Concepts

".......some day soon we'll be flying airplanes powered by pulsejets."

[Dave]

Luc; No it’s not carpet. I took the proper precautions and out down a towel before laying out my Hinote Slip Roller for it's first photo shoot. Cleaned it up a bit with paper towels as well. No reason to get grief at the start of the project, better to do it at the end...

Bill; We never doubted your design, it is just that most of us (me included) find it easier to type than to cut and weld. Now if I can just get around to doing something with it before the meet at the end of the month…

Dave

[Bruno Ogorelec]

How about the Hinote Jet Roller® -- an accurate product description if I ever saw one.

I mean, Bill, you cant sell criteria. A brand, however, now, that's another thing entirely.

[kd2]

Hi from Israel

I searched the web for cone rolling applications for a lot of time.
sadly i didnt find a real proved working method for rolling cones, until i read this post i rooled my cones stone age style :lol: ( Meaning a tube in a vice ) although its a good way to do it and the results are good after some practice,it took me a lot of time.

I built the device following the instructions a few days ago but sadly i cut my hand a bit in the workshop ( No big deal just 1 stich ) so Im out for a weak - before i start i would like to ask some questions to speed up the learning curve and save me some time.

When bending the metal....bend it only over the Red line or all around the Blue one? ( I know it depends on the diameter of the tube and lengh of rolled piece , just making sure - pic attached )

Im rooling a 1 mm normal steel sheet - is it possible to bend it with hands only?

How much gap should i leave under the tube?
As thick as the sheet or more?

How far should the bends be ( from one to another )?

I will post some pics tomorrow.

sorry for my english i hope its well written.

Thanx very much

Yam 8)

[Jim Berquist]

If I built one with a conical roller, could I do the end role I need for the little P.J. Augmenter..... Thermojet thing?????

Could I do a stepped role and end up with a 150% flare on the end of a cylinder.....

Jim

[mk]

"kd2" (Yam),

Yes it is pretty much "stone-age-style" like you call it. However, the simple tool is still the only one, which I can build longer conical sections in decent quality with. It is likely that there are machines out there, but they will cost quite some money, if they could deal with the small diameters involed in any way. Even better though, that the simple tool beats machines in both cases. At least for non-commercial applications.
With the above tool it can become time consuming until your cone looks like it should, especially when making a little mistake in the process, or when the cone layout was not cutted with accuracy.

To come to your questions specifically:

When bending the metal....bend it only over the Red line or all around the Blue one?

You will notice soon, that you may have to bend the sheet all along the red path, so that the remaining deformation is just enough to build a circular sector, roughly. Only when your cone angle is small, and the piece of pipe properly approximates the smaller diameter, choosing the blue path may give you benefits.
Generally, for common cone angles and the pipe diameter being smaller than the cone diameters, I would recommend that you process alternating from the sides, so that they are as best in a circular shape when you finish the bending job.
The opposite, when proceeding from one side to another, will cause you difficulties in bending the remaining side/edge properly.
You will notice that soon, for a certain pipe and a given layout of a cone, how far you will have to bend approximately per fixing. It is hard to give a "rule of thumb", but your estimated maximum of bending is rather represented by the red path. It may even have to be lower in some cases.

Im rooling a 1 mm normal steel sheet - is it possible to bend it with hands only?

For the general shape: Yes. Which demands the bending radius not being too small. However, Finishing with an hammer (and an anvil) is often necessary, which especially refers to the end planes' cross-sectinoal areas (-- completing to a circular shape --), and the longitudinal slit/overlap (-- approximating circular cross-sectional shape longitudinally).

How much gap should i leave under the tube?
As thick as the sheet or more?

You do not really leave a distance between the pipe and support. The sheet is fixed with pipe, by forcing the pipe against the support with the sheet of metal between both of the above. E.g. done with the U-bend bolts. Practically, since you bend the metal (tangential forces are only incrementally appearing), you will notice, that the pipe will only have to be tightened a little, so that you could still alter the sheets positon. Of course, nothing should be wobbly. Stronger fastening is mostly necessary for the edges/sides only.

Just saw the picture. Well, if you are using s distance, then do not make it larger than your sheet is. (Reasoning: Compare to the above.)

How far should the bends be ( from one to another )?

Depends on your pipe diameter to largest cone diameter ratio. There you will have to see how much of bend path would still approximate the desired, final circular shape enough, and which would give you something with dents or something spiral-like etc.

Try it. That's the best way to get a feeling, which quite necessary for such a tool.

[kd2]

I knew its all about feeling and skill - like the pipe in the vice but still wanted some tips from your experience and got a realy good answer.
Thank you very much!
I looked for pics of PJ's and find out that you guys need about 3-5 cones.
Well......Im building 2 stroke exhaust from 2 to 10 cones and it takes a lot off time - every sec counts!
Im sure i will have 2 do some repair on the pipe but now i can watch TV and make the base structure of the cones and weld&fix them later :D

i will post some pics soon.

thank you for your time!

yam

[kd2]

well.....

I realized that 1 mm of steel are 2 hard to bend over a small diameter.
Back to the old good method for me.

Thank you all 8)