Bead rolled aluminium door trims

[Harv]

Looking for some advice please.

I'd like to make a set of bead-rolled door trims for the meth monster project, similar to this:

Bead rolled aluminium door trims.JPG (191.69 KiB) Viewed 641 times

I'm not sure whether to try and find a local shop (Sydney) to do the bead rolling, or have a go myself. Some questions please:
a) What gauge/type of ally sheet would suit?
b) I've never bead rolled before... is this a skill I could learn by practicing on say one door trims worth of ally (like learning to use a drill for the first time), or a skill that needs many, many hours of practice (like welding)?
c) I don't do much sheet metal work. If I bought a bead roller, it might get used perhaps once a year for similar, low tech projects. Not much chance of me using it more than that given the projects I do. Any suggestions on a suitable roller?

Cheers,
Harv

[Blacky]

I have a bead roller at home , have only used it a handful of times - best to have someone operating the rolls while you guide the workpiece , a bit of practice is required but its not rocket surgery.

I have only used steel but 0.9 mm ally would be my guess, might need to do a half depth run then a full depth to prevent puckering in the corners - theres heaps of beadrolling info on the web and some pretty cool pages on bookface - just be prepared for the hipster trendoid wank fest that goes with some of it ......

[In the Shed]

Another question…… do you need a bigger shed for it??

[Harv]

Another question…… do you need a bigger shed for it??

If it comes freestanding, then yes. If it's one of these, then I will stash it somewhere:

Vice mount bead roller.png (179.43 KiB) Viewed 624 times

https://www.kangindustrial.com.au/produ ... gIngvD_BwE

Cheers,
Harv

[Harv]

Another question…… do you need a bigger shed for it??

If it comes freestanding, then yes. If it's one of these, then I will stash it somewhere:

https://www.kangindustrial.com.au/produ ... gIngvD_BwE

Cheers,
Harv

[Harv]

I bit the bullet and bought one of the Kang bead rollers shown above. It's nothing flash, but should do what I need it to.

Had a quick play with some scrap painted steel sheet (the weird stuff in the photo is where the paint is spalling off). Fairly easy to use, but will need some more practice before doing the door trims. Straight lines are simple, as you can sight the texta mark in the "u" of the die. Following a tight curve is harder as if you line it up to the "u" at the edge of the die then the place you want to bend (under the centre of the die) can be offset.

bead rolled.jpg (719.41 KiB) Viewed 555 times

Cheers,
Harv

[Blacky]

There's HEAPS of stuff on YouTube about bead rolling

[EK283]

Excellent,

More practice Harv !!

You should be able to get good results with doing it slow and steady.

Look forward to the final product..

Regards Greg