Any Advice for Rolling 1/4" Plate?

[johnp]

Hey gang, I need to take strips of 3" x 72" x 1/4" mild steel and roll them into arch shapes for a project. I considered trying to make a jig to sandwich and press them, but assuming the steel will spring back. So I don't think that will work.

Then I was looking at actual plate rollers, like these:
https://www.baileigh.com/metalworking/s ... late-rolls

But these monsters are expensive, and huge. Sure they'll roll a 6' sheet of 1/4"! But I only need like 6". So does anyone know of a SMALL plate roller that would do 1/4"? Or have an idea where I could get plans to build one myself that wouldn't be too difficult?

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

John P.

[tnbndr]

You can buy/use a smaller plate roller that is not rated for 1/4" at full length and still roll a 3" strip. I do it on my roller that is only rated for 16 gauge full length 36". You should be able to find a manual roller for pretty reasonable on ebay

[johnp]

You can buy/use a smaller plate roller that is not rated for 1/4" at full length and still roll a 3" strip.

I was wondering if that would work! That's great to know. Thanks for sharing your experience!

Cheers,

John P.

[_Ogre]

a 6 foot piece of 3''x1/4'' will pretty much bend itself leaning against the wall
a simple press jig can make short bends or long bends if you move the material

[johnp]

a 6 foot piece of 3''x1/4'' will pretty much bend itself leaning against the wall
a simple press jig can make short bends or long bends if you move the material

I'm going to give this a try. I actually contacted the folks at Baileigh and asked them if they thought I could use one of their slip rolls for this, and the sales rep told me it wouldn't work with theirs at least. I'm assuming a sales guy wouldn't say no unless it was really no.

So I'll just give it a try by bending it manually. Might be able to cut the arch part and then just use C-clamps to hold it down and weld it as I go.

[Billy wesson]

Look at YouTube extreme metal roller I built it and it works great with a few mods like a 3 in top roller good luck

[Gamelord]

Depending on how tight you need the bend and the span, welding, bend, clamp, weld, repeat.... should work fine.

[ovrrdrive]

a 6 foot piece of 3''x1/4'' will pretty much bend itself leaning against the wall
a simple press jig can make short bends or long bends if you move the material

I'm going to give this a try. I actually contacted the folks at Baileigh and asked them if they thought I could use one of their slip rolls for this, and the sales rep told me it wouldn't work with theirs at least. I'm assuming a sales guy wouldn't say no unless it was really no.

So I'll just give it a try by bending it manually. Might be able to cut the arch part and then just use C-clamps to hold it down and weld it as I go.

A salesperson will never advertise a product outside of the specs the engineers that built it say its rated for whether it will do it or not...