I'm looking to purchase a bead roller to roll some beads on some intercooler piping, I found some "bead rollers" but it doesn't look like they are designed for piping. Anyone know where I can buy a tool like this?
Piping bead rollers? Where to buy
- Thread starter 7Mboost
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I would assume something like this would work
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-SHEET-METAL...5|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50
you pipes would have to fit over the rollers though, but they dont look too big.
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-SHEET-METAL...5|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50
you pipes would have to fit over the rollers though, but they dont look too big.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93364
If you're smart you'll see if you can rent one somewhere, or turn around and try to make money off of having one...
If you're smart you'll see if you can rent one somewhere, or turn around and try to make money off of having one...
Poodles;1195076 said:
Great minds think alike, this is the one I was looking at, what size piping will that fit up to?
Try Eastwood's: eastwoodco.com. They sell a lot of auto restoration/customizing supplies and tools.
The cheap ones (like the one that I posted) won't do thick materials, and aren't terribly durable. Now the one IJ has will do thick material all day, everyday, forever...
Poodles;1195162 said:
I'm just looking to do strictly intercooler piping, no crazy thick gauge, should be able to handle it right?
Yep - HF and Summit sell one for $130. They will do up to 18 gauge sheet metal - so as long as you use 18 gauge tubing, you will be fine 
jetjock;1195197 said:Meh, run a weld bead around the tubing. Not that I've ever done that
Expensive overpriced tig welding in my area, and they aren't even dime welds, this is a financially strong decision in my case.
You'll still need to anneal Aluminium no matter which one if you want pretty beads, grab a bar of soap and some water lather up your hands and wipe on where the bead is going to be then grab a heat source ie: Oxy torch and heat until the soap turns black.
Bingo annealed aluminium to T0 ready to roll
Bingo annealed aluminium to T0 ready to roll
I bought mine from these guys for about $400 and I love it. Perfect bead every time.
http://www.beadform.com/
http://www.beadform.com/
IJ.;1195232 said:You'll still need to anneal Aluminium no matter which one if you want pretty beads, grab a bar of soap and some water lather up your hands and wipe on where the bead is going to be then grab a heat source ie: Oxy torch and heat until the soap turns black.
Bingo annealed aluminium to T0 ready to roll
Holy shit, that is the single most ingenious thing I've ever heard!
JetJock, that's what I told him to do - since that's what I did
I'm old I remember these things
(the other less accurate way is to carbon it up with a rich torch flame then heat till the carbon burns off and it's around about the correct temp)
(the other less accurate way is to carbon it up with a rich torch flame then heat till the carbon burns off and it's around about the correct temp)
The cheap HF roller flexes too much for thick metals used in intercooler piping. Some people weld it up with gussets to get more rigidity, but I'd just spend the money to get something better like in SD2's post. The HF roller also can't bead anything smaller than 2.5" dia. Mine sits in my garage a testimony to my bad judgement.