Bead Roller Motor
About 4 years ago I asked for a bead roller for Christmas. Well my in-laws got me the one I wanted. At the time I had a 53 f100 that I was planning on restoring and I wanted to learn how to make custom panels. Well after trying to use the beadroller by myself with the handle that it came with, I quickly realized that it was a two person job.
Well I ordered a 4 spoke handle from Eastwood.com . After trying that a time or two I knew that that wasn't going to work either.
At the time I was working as a diesel mechanic for a construction company. We had dump trucks that I had recently replaced the tarp motors on a few of them. The electric motors were burnt up, but the 60:1 gear boxes were fine. That's when the wheels started turning in my head to build a motor for my bead roller. I didn't have $400 for a new one from Eastwood.com or anybody else, so I made my own.
Supplies
Listed below are materials and links to parts that were used to build this motor.
I didn't measure it but I used a scrap piece of 1/4" plate (maybe 10"X18").
2- 1-1/2"X8"X3/4" Red Oak for the drill holders.
2- 3" long 1/4" rod
2-band clamps
4- 1/4" carriage bolts
I didn't measure how much 2"X3/8" bar I used to build the mount, but it was all scrap.
4- M12 bolts (not sure on the thread pitch, they were in my tool box.)
3- 5/16" bolts for the tarp gear box
1- M10 bolt for the handle
2- 1/4" bolts for the pull-up spring
2- 2"X3"X3/8"X22" long angle iron to brace the bead roller
4- Springs (honestly don't know where I got them from)
2- 6"X12"X3/4" pieces of ply wood
1- Piano hinge
https://www.woodwardfab.com/product/manual-bead-roller-with-6-sets-of-dies-wfbr6/
https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-bead-roller-4-spoke-crank.html
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-6-5-Amp-1-2-in-Corded-Drill-6302H/202517725
https://mountaintarp.com/k0170s-super-torque-motor-assembly?pg=1&itemType=Content
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/g-g-manufacturing-l-jaw-coupler-half-3-4-in-bore-2800634
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/coupler-replacement-spider-adapter-1815034
The first thing I did was took the tarp motor apart. I beat out the shaft in the armature for the motor and chucked it up in the Makita drill and saw how fast the gear box would spin. Well, it was slow enough. Once I knew that it would be slow enough, I took the drill apart and built the foot pedal for the motor. I used 3 springs to hold the top piece of wood off of the trigger for the drill. I took a few pieces of scrap 1"X and incased the trigger, then ran an old extension cord from the switch back up to the drill.
Then I took the 1/4" plate and marked my holes for the gear box and got it mounted. Once I figured out what size coupler I needed for the shaft on the gear box and the beadroller, I went to tractor supply and picked those up. When I got the couplers I was able to figure out the spacing I needed for how far out the plate needed to be. Then I drilled and tapped two holes in the beadroller so I could bolt on a piece of 2"X3/8" bar. I took two more pieces of the 2"X3/8" bar and welded them on both sides of the bar that is bolted on and lined up and welded the 1/4" plate to that. Sorry I do not have pictures from when I built it.
When everything was moving I tested it out. Then I realized that the supplied screw to adjust it with was not going to work well and I needed to make a tightening handle for it. So I took some 5/16" rod, bent it in two places and on one end I welded a long bolt to the bent rod. Then I took a piece of oak and made a knob for the handle on my lathe. Then had the bright idea of adding a spring to it to pick it up when you need the pull the piece of metal out that has just been bead rolled.
I noticed that the bead roller had a lot of flex to it when I was playing with it one time. After doing research these things are known for doing that. That's why the 2"x3" pieces of angle iron are welded on the back side. A lot of people recommend doing that.
Sadly I have not taken the time to take it all apart and paint it, but it is on the to-do list. I had practiced with it a few times and I am no Lazze or Jamie Jordan when It comes to bead rolling. I couldn't justify spending the money for an actual motor for my beadroller and that's why I built this. I hope this instructable is understandable as this is my first one. Here are a few pictures of a piece I practiced with and a video. https://youtu.be/Fw-zxopEqHk