Sheet Metal Roller

This sheet metal roller was made from materials that were on hand. I used a 3" pipe as it looked about the right diameter for most curves. The follower bar is a length of 1" pipe, the bar clamp on the rear is 1 X 3/8" bar as are the feet and the follower arm linkage. The pivots for the follower bar are short lengths of pipe that fit together, in this case 1" and 1 1/4" I believe. You can use anything that fits together and gives you a snug pivoting action.

It is designed for clamping on a table in use. The sheet material is clamped in the rear bar clamp and the follower is brought over the material and around the main body to complete the curve. If your material is really heavy, you can add an extension to that stub handle that is shown welded to the follower bar. The end, and foot (last photo) can both be disassembled to remove your work, if need be. Nothing gets trapped.

This tool is for making uniform smooth bends (curves) in sheet metal when making machinery belt covers, making patch pieces for body work, patching your muffler, etc, etc. The projects are nearly unlimited.

This photo shows how it can taken apart to release any work that won't just slide out otherwise.

Shows the follower bar parts and a close up view of the end pivot and clamp bar.

These photos show the steps to bend sheet metal. The metal is slipped behind the clamp bar, tightened and the follower bar rotates around the main body (3" pipe) making the bend. And there you have it.... a nice uniform, smooth, wrinkle free curve for your next project.........sure beats that "kinked" bend you get trying to bend a curve on the edge of a worktable.