MPandC posted this
Had someone stop by the shop needing to add a bead to the end of the aluminum tubing he had to install in his Cobra project. He had trimmed one end for a better fit and needed to replace the bead for the radiator hose...
......to match the other end.
The dies on the bead roller were much too large in diameter, so I thought to make a manual device out of a pair of vise grips... Once the teeth start to wear these make ideal candidates for purpose-built tools. For the punch part of the tool, started with a thick 5/8 washer and gave the edges a nice radius in the lathe.
The vise grip bottom teeth were welded in and sanded smoothed to provide a flat area for the punch to push against (for less marking of the tubing), then an 1/8" thick 3" dia cut off wheel provided the recess in the lower jaw of the vise grips.
The washer was notched and bent to better fit the vise grips for welding....
Masking tape added to use as a reference/stop mark to align against end of vise grip jaw.
The vise grips with their adjustable jaw setting work well to make one revolution, then adjust tighter, etc..
Finished product....
obviously a welder and a bit of thinking was required, considering a commercial tool costs $100 for each size tubing thats a bargain
http://www.streetperformance.com/m/cats ... oller.html
http://www.streetperformance.com/part/e ... 4-016.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-piece-cu ... 91684.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-cur ... 39639.html
If your thinking of building a set, thats the perfect use for those import clone version vise grips, low cost, and you don,t mind so much if they require welding on them or pitching them in the dumpster
Had someone stop by the shop needing to add a bead to the end of the aluminum tubing he had to install in his Cobra project. He had trimmed one end for a better fit and needed to replace the bead for the radiator hose...
......to match the other end.
The dies on the bead roller were much too large in diameter, so I thought to make a manual device out of a pair of vise grips... Once the teeth start to wear these make ideal candidates for purpose-built tools. For the punch part of the tool, started with a thick 5/8 washer and gave the edges a nice radius in the lathe.
The vise grip bottom teeth were welded in and sanded smoothed to provide a flat area for the punch to push against (for less marking of the tubing), then an 1/8" thick 3" dia cut off wheel provided the recess in the lower jaw of the vise grips.
The washer was notched and bent to better fit the vise grips for welding....
Masking tape added to use as a reference/stop mark to align against end of vise grip jaw.
The vise grips with their adjustable jaw setting work well to make one revolution, then adjust tighter, etc..
Finished product....
obviously a welder and a bit of thinking was required, considering a commercial tool costs $100 for each size tubing thats a bargain
http://www.streetperformance.com/m/cats ... oller.html
http://www.streetperformance.com/part/e ... 4-016.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-piece-cu ... 91684.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-cur ... 39639.html
If your thinking of building a set, thats the perfect use for those import clone version vise grips, low cost, and you don,t mind so much if they require welding on them or pitching them in the dumpster