Many products are made from sheet metal - drainage systems, shaped parts for sheathing or metal tiles, flashings for the base, corners for structures made of corrugated sheets, etc. All this can be done by a special bending machine for sheet metal. We’ll talk about how to make a sheet bending machine with your own hands in this article.
Types of sheet benders
All these devices are classified as sheet bending machines. The easiest way to make one with your own hands is the unit of the first group, a little more difficult - the third (rollers for sheet metal). So we’ll talk about them - from how to make a sheet bending machine with your own hands.
Simple manual
Shaped metal parts cost a lot of money. Even more than corrugated sheeting or metal tiles, so it makes sense to do the simplest machine for bending sheet metal, and with its help, make as many corners, ebbs and other similar parts as you need, and exclusively to your dimensions.
Bending machine - side view 
If you're worried about appearance, then in vain. On sale today there is sheet metal not only galvanized, but also painted. In all designs, the sheet is fixed tightly, so that when working it does not slide on the table, which means that the paint does not rub off or get scratched. It is also not damaged in places of bending. So the products will look quite decent. If you try, they will look even better than what they sell on the market.
Powerful sheet bending machine made from brands
This sheet bending machine will require a flat surface (table), preferably metal, three corners with a shelf width of at least 45 mm, and a metal thickness of at least 3 mm. If you plan to bend long blanks(more than a meter), it is advisable to take wider shelves and thicker metal. You can use brands, but this is for bending sheets of metal of great thickness and length.
You will also need metal ones door hinges(two pieces), two large diameter screws (10-20 mm), wings on them, a spring. Will still be needed welding machine- weld the hinges and make holes (or a drill with a metal drill).
For a homemade sheet bender, a 70 mm brand was used - three pieces of 2.5 m each, two bolts of 20 mm in diameter, a small piece of metal 5 mm thick (for cutting jibs), a spring. Here's the procedure:
- Two brands are folded, and notches are cut out at both ends for hinges. The edges of the recesses are beveled at 45°. The third tee is cut in the same way, only the depth of the recess is made a little larger - this will be the clamping bar, so it should move freely.
- Weld the loops on both sides (weld on the front and back).
- Two jibs on each side are welded to one of the brands (the one farthest from you, if you “open” them). They are needed so that you can install the clamping bar clamp bolt on them.
- Weld the bolt nut to the jibs.
- Install the clamping bar (third cut tee), weld in the upper part metal plates with a hole in the middle. The diameter of the hole is slightly larger than the diameter of the bolt. Center the holes so that they are on the same vertical line with the welded nut. Weld.
- Cut the spring so that it raises the pressure bar by 5-7 mm. Pass the bolt into the “ear” of the clamping bar, put on the spring, tighten the nut. After installing the same spring on the other side, the clamping bar rises on its own when unscrewed.
- Weld two pieces of reinforcement to the screw head to serve as handles for tightening.
- Weld a handle to the movable (closest to you) brand. That's it, you can work.
This option is very powerful - you can bend long workpieces and sheets of considerable thickness. Such scales are not always in demand, but they can always be reduced. The video suggests a similar design of a smaller size, but with a different fastening of the clamping bar. By the way, no one bothers you to also install a spring on the screw - it will be easier to raise the bar. What’s interesting about this design is that you can make beading on it, something that such devices usually cannot do.
From a corner with a different type of clamping bar
This model is welded from a thick-walled angle, the frame is made like an ordinary construction sawhorse, which is welded from the same angle. The handle is from a luggage trolley. The design of the screws is interesting - they are long, the handle is curved in the shape of the letter “L”. Convenient to unscrew/screw.
This homemade sheet metal bending machine has many features:
Now let's move on to the design of the clamping bar (pictured above). It is also made from a corner, but is laid on the machine with an upward bend. To ensure that the bar does not bend during operation, reinforcement is welded on - metal jumpers. Small metal platforms are welded at both ends of the strip, in which holes are drilled for bolts.
Another important point- the edge that faces the fold is cut off - to obtain more acute angle bending
The clamping bar is placed on the machine, and a spring is placed in the place where the nut is installed. The handle is installed in place. If it does not press the bar, it is raised above the surface due to the elastic force of the spring. In this position, the workpiece is tucked under it, positioned, and pressed.
Place a spring under the hole, then a bolt
Not a bad option for home use. It will not be possible to bend thick metal, but tin and galvanized steel can be bent without difficulty.
Sheet metal rollers or roller bender
This type of sheet bending machine can have three types of drive:
- manual;
- hydraulic;
- electric.
Do-it-yourself rollers for sheet metal with manual or electrically driven. Manual ones have 3 shafts, electric ones can have 3-4, but usually there are also three.
This machine needs a good solid foundation. This could be a separate bed or some kind of workbench or table. The basis of the structure is rolls. They are made the same size. The two lower ones are installed permanently, the upper one is movable, so that in the lower position it is located between the rollers. By changing the distance between the lower rollers and the upper one, the radius of curvature changes.
The machine is set in motion using a handle attached to one of the shafts. Then the torque is transmitted to other rollers through sprockets. They are selected so that the rotation speed is the same.
If the equipment is intended to produce pipes, the upper roller on one side is made removable, with a quick fixation system. Once the sheet is rolled into a pipe, there is no other way to pull it out.
Curved profile pipe is widely used in construction various designs. The curved profile gives the roof a streamlined shape and is aesthetically attractive during construction arched structures, openings, withstands serious dynamic loads. Buying a profile of the required diameter is not a problem. It is impossible to give a straight metal profile pipe the desired bend without the use of special equipment.
You can bend the profile manually using gas burner and exerting physical effort. But even for such a simple operation it is necessary to secure the pipe firmly, select a safe place for heating, and adjust the levers to apply force. It is even more difficult to make several symmetrically curved profiles.
This problem is solved using a special technique - rolling profile pipe.
For construction metal structures use special pipes with square or rectangular cross-section, which have increased strength to static load. Giving these pipes the required shape using a special machine is called rolling. The machine itself is called rollers (roller, pipe bender).
When people talk about pipe rolling on an industrial scale, this term refers to the operation of producing a profile pipe. The blank for obtaining the profile is a round welded pipe, which, by rolling on rollers, is converted into a pipe with a square or rectangular cross-section.
Rolling in production consists of the following operations:
- Receiving a pipe from round from flat rolled metal - the sheet is rolled up and the connecting seam is welded.
- A round pipe is pulled through a roller, deforming it and giving it a cross-section of specified dimensions.
- Carry out quality control of the connecting seam of the resulting profile.
- Additional rolling removes the residual stress of the metal after deformation.
Pay attention! The term "rolling" on an industrial scale has a broader meaning than just a radial change in the shape of the pipe.
A production roller or pipe bender is a machine consisting of 3 or five metal rollers, which are connected into a single mechanism by a drive chain. Such a machine is used in the pipe rolling industry, primarily for the manufacture of the profile itself.
Manual table rollers will provide craftsmen with great help in my work. They can be used to roll sheet metal into thinner ones, wire into any strip given thickness or width and even with a square section. If you make rivulets in the rollers, it is easy to obtain any shaped rolled products for a variety of auxiliary or main operations.
For example, when performing delicate work with a low-power soldering iron, very little solder is required, but in order to take this drop, you have to heat the edge of the entire piece. Soldering will go faster and better if the tin is first rolled in the form of a thin strip and rolled into a spiral: you just need to touch its end with a soldering iron - the solder instantly transfers to the tip; its consumption is reduced and the seam will be cleaner.
Of course, not everyone can make these with their own hands, but they can be ordered from the appropriate workshops. The main details of this desktop machine- steel, hardened, ground cylinders - rollers. Their dimensions: diameter 55 mm, length of the working part 75 mm. The frame is welded, made of sheet steel with a thickness of 10...15 mm (or cast from a wooden model). Support (of two halves) and pressure bushings - bronze or brass. The design provides for the possibility of their mutual rearrangement.
Basic data of the small roller mechanism
Gears are selected in accordance with the table below. Their module must be large enough to allow the top roller to be lifted without disengaging the gears. The gears and roller axles have a keyway. To prevent the gears from turning, they are placed on a key or on a square shoulder in a screw, or they are locked with a pin. Press gear screws - M16. It is advisable to polish the axle journals.
1 - mounting bolt, 2 - support sleeve, 3, 4 - rollers, 5 - keyways,
6 - connecting bar, 7, 8 - pressure mechanism gears, 9 - knob, 10 - pressure screw nut, 11 - drive gears, 12 - lever, 13 - handle, 14 - frame,
15 - pressure screw, 16 - pressure sleeve.
The handle lever is made of strip steel, 300 mm long; To transmit large forces, it must be of a suitable cross-section and sufficiently rigid. The lever bushing is attached to the shaft axis on a key.
The rollers are fixed on a table or a simple frame with bolts. Rollers can be used to roll soft metals - brass, red copper, aluminum and their alloys. Hard metal should first be annealed - made softer.
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A technological operation such as sheet metal rolling has remained common for quite a long time. Of course, the rollers used for sheet metal processing have undergone major changes since their invention, but the principle of their operation has remained virtually unchanged. Development modern technologies has led to the fact that today on the market you can easily find equipment that allows you to perform such a complex technological operation as rolling, even at home.
Features of the technology
Rolling, which can be applied to products not only made of metal, but also of other plastic materials (rubber, plastic, etc.), is a process necessary to give sheet blanks the required configuration. Despite the fact that the most common is, pipe rolling products can also undergo such a technological operation.
In this case, special equipment is used, the main working elements of which are shafts acting on the sheet metal workpiece. If it is necessary to give it a cylindrical shape, the technological operation is called rolling (or rolling). When it is necessary to increase the diameter of the pipe, the procedure is called flaring.
On industrial enterprises To perform rolling or flaring operations, equipment with electric or hydraulic drives is used, and at home, machines with manual drive, which can be either serial or homemade. Several factors contribute to the high popularity of technological operations such as rolling and flaring, which involve deforming metal in a cold state.
- Steel or other metal from which the processed products are made are not exposed to temperature and, accordingly, do not change their original characteristics.
- Internal cracks do not form in the structure of the material that has been subjected to this treatment.
- The processed product is deformed evenly over its entire surface.
- Using cold deformation, the process of which can be controlled, products are manufactured with the most accurate geometric parameters.
Thanks to the listed advantages, these technological operations are used to process not only large-sized, but also miniature products made of steel and other metals (such as, for example, jewelry parts).
Equipment used
The equipment used for rolling is distinguished not only by its versatility, but also by its simplicity of design, so it is not difficult to make it yourself. Of course, homemade rolling machines are optimal for home use, and for equipping production workshop, where the load on such equipment is quite large, it is best to purchase serial models of rollers presented on modern market in great variety.
Both serial and homemade models machines used for rolling work operate on the rolling-in principle sheet material around the main roll located on top. Side rollers also take part in this process, which can be moved, thereby adjusting the diameter of the formed shell.
Important characteristics of rollers are the radius of their working elements - the rollers, as well as the greatest thickness and width of the workpiece. The radius of the rolls, in particular, influences such a parameter as the minimum bending radius of the workpiece. The larger the diameter of the rolls, the correspondingly greater the value of the minimum bending radius of the sheet metal workpiece. The value of the minimum bending radius is also influenced by the thickness of the sheet itself. Typically, the minimum bend radius for rollers is sheet stock should be 5-10 times its thickness.
Taking into account the high loads that rolls experience during operation, only high-strength steel is used for their manufacture, which can significantly improve them performance characteristics. Based on the number of working elements, two-, three- and four-roll machines are distinguished, with the last two types being the most popular.
3-roll sheet bending rollers, the working elements of which can be arranged symmetrically and asymmetrically, although they have a reasonable price, have the following disadvantages:
- low rolling speed (no more than 5 m/min);
- the difficulty of processing workpieces less than 6 mm thick, which can simply slide between the rolls;
- lack of exact coordinates at the clamping point of the workpiece.
The rollers on which an additional fourth shaft is installed are free from all such shortcomings. Due to reliable clamping, the metal sheet blank does not slip between the rollers during processing. This ensures a high rolling speed of 6 m/min or more.
Rollers of this type are usually equipped with automated systems control, which has a positive effect not only on their productivity, but also on the accuracy of the processing performed. The big and, perhaps, the only disadvantage of such a device is its high cost.
Classification of rollers by drive type
Based on the type of drive used, equipment for rolling sheet metal blanks is divided into the following categories:
- manual;
- electrical;
- hydraulic.
The simplest in design are manually driven rollers; it is these that home craftsmen most often assemble with their own hands for their own needs.
Significant advantages of such a device, which does not require any additional power for its operation, are:
- compactness and, accordingly, high mobility;
- reliability;
- ease of operation and maintenance;
- low cost (especially if).
Among the disadvantages of machines of this type, it should be noted:
- low productivity;
- the impossibility, especially in the case of home-made machines, to roll products made of sheet metal of large thickness (more than 2 mm);
- the need to apply significant physical effort to bend steel sheets.
Machines equipped with an electric drive are more productive and efficient in operation. Of course, their cost, even if they are made by hand, is higher than the price of hand rollers, but they allow processing sheet products of considerable thickness.
The most powerful are the hydraulically driven rollers. The capabilities of such machines, which are distinguished by their large dimensions, make it possible to successfully roll sheet metal blanks of even very significant thickness. Devices of this type are usually installed in industrial enterprises, where high demands are placed on the power, reliability and functionality of the equipment.
Making sheet bending rollers with your own hands
Due to the simplicity of the design of hand rollers, it is not difficult to make them yourself. Naturally, in order to assemble a workable homemade machine, on which sheet metal processing will be performed, you must have certain skills and have everything at your disposal necessary tools And consumables. In addition to familiarizing yourself with the recommendations for performing this procedure, it is advisable to watch a video on this topic.
The first thing you will need to make your own rollers is drawings, which you can find on the Internet or create yourself. Having made the drawings, you can begin preparing materials and assembling the structural units that will make up your homemade machine. Such nodes, in particular, include:
- the roller frame on which all other elements are fixed;
- side racks, in the bearing units of which rolls will be installed;
- the rolls themselves, made of high-strength steel (the number and diameters of these elements depend on what technical capabilities you want to give your device);
- a handle that will rotate the lower rollers;
- a drive unit (chain or gear) that ensures synchronous rotation of the lower rolls (it should be borne in mind that such rolls should rotate in one direction);
- a spring-type pressure unit, which ensures that the upper roll is pressed against the surface of the metal sheet.
Assembling the rollers begins with making a frame, which you can weld with your own hands from thick steel blanks. The dimensions of this element, of course, must be checked with the drawing you have. As side racks, which are also fixed to the frame by welding, you can use powerful channels made of low-carbon steel.
The elements of the drive unit are fixed on one of the racks, for which special holes are provided on it. After the side racks with the drive unit are completely assembled, the rollers themselves are installed in their bearing units, which must be set to parallel and only after that the final fixation of all other units is performed.
Rotational bending of sheet and wide-band metal is in demand in the production activities of both small companies and repair shops. Even home craftsmen can make rollers with their own hands, while saving on the purchase of similar industrial equipment.
In the process of deforming metal on rotary machines (which are rollers), the main deforming force is not applied simultaneously to the entire surface of the workpiece, but gradually, as more and more volumes of metal are involved in the deformation zone. As a result, the force is significantly reduced, and some reduction in bending productivity is in most cases not critical. In addition, the very principle of operation of sheet bending rollers is so simple that for self-made no significant expenditure of labor or raw materials will be required.
The sequence of sheet rolling operations is as follows:
- The initial workpiece (sheet or wide strip) is inserted into the initial gap between the work rolls.
- Lower the movable roller until the workpiece is firmly pressed against the lower rollers.
- By turning the movable roller, the workpiece is bent. The number of revolutions of the tool can be different - it all depends on the evenness of the workpiece surface.
- When the desired bending quality is achieved, the part is removed from the rolls.
In this way, you can produce products such as cylinders and conical parts, straighten strips, etc. The force of rotary rolling is small, since friction during stamping is minimal, and is only necessary to fix the workpiece in the rolls. The torque is more significant, but its values are relatively small. They are determined only by the magnitude of the force application arm. The process force is more noticeably influenced by the physical and mechanical characteristics of the material and its thickness (for thick-sheet workpieces the sectional moment of resistance increases sharply). Therefore, rotary rolling is beneficial for low-carbon steel with a thickness of no more than 4 mm, tin, aluminum and other highly plastic metals and alloys.
Due to the low effort and torque, do-it-yourself rollers in most cases do without an electric motor. Moreover, the electromechanical drive leads to an increase in the metal consumption of the machine and to the complexity of its design. So, you will need a reduction gear, an intermediate shaft, and possibly a brake.
Selection and justification of the design diagram of the machine
Plate bending rollers differ in the following parameters:
- By the number of work rolls: they can be three or four rolls (installations with a large number of rolls are rare).
- According to the layout of the rolls. There are mechanisms whose roll axes are located symmetrically and asymmetrically to the transverse axis.
- According to the method of fixing the rolls in the frame - on rolling or sliding bearings.
- By type of drive - from manual rollers to those driven by AC and (less often) DC motors.
The question is how to make rollers that will be designed for sheet metal - you should start with the development terms of reference. It should be taken into account that the manual drive is effective when bending products with a thickness of no more than 0.8...1.2 mm, and with a width of no more than 500...800 mm, otherwise the drive handle will have to be made very long. This is not only inconvenient, but will also lead to an increase in the size of the production area where the unit is supposed to be installed.
For the same reason, a three-roll design should be preferred to a four-roll design - the complexity of manufacturing will increase, and the user will not receive any visible benefits. Moreover, there is no point in making rollers with an even larger number of rolls (for example, seven-roll versions are needed when it is necessary to perform radius bending of sheet products with diameters from 1500...1600 mm).
A more complex issue is the symmetry of the roll arrangement in three-roll rollers. The symmetrical scheme (in which the rolls are arranged in an equilateral triangle: the pressure roller is on top, and the working rollers are on the bottom) is structurally simpler and more technologically advanced to manufacture. However, after processing on such equipment, the front and rear edges of the workpiece at a certain distance (about half from the interaxial one) will remain straight and will require a repeated deformation cycle. If the rollers are intended to produce thick-sheet products, mainly of the type of cylinders with curved edges, then an asymmetrical machine will have to be manufactured.
Thus, an installation with three symmetrically located work rolls can be considered optimal for manufacturing at home.
Composition of components and features of their manufacture
Manually driven rolling machines consist of the following components:
- A welded frame-type frame, which, in turn, consists of two support posts connected crosswise by profile pipes or square steel rods to increase rigidity. To increase the stability of the structure, thrust bearings can be welded to the lower ends of the support posts.
- Unit for adjusting the distance between the movable and stationary rollers.
- Handles for rotating the upper roll (to increase the speed of rotation of the rolls, an overdrive can be provided, for which the handle shaft should be equipped with a gear wheel, and a corresponding gear should be installed on one of the rolls).
- Lever devices for axial movement of the upper roll (when installing the original workpiece in the gap between the rolls).
- The actual rollers, two of which are the lower ones, are installed in the bearings of the support posts, and the upper one, the pressure one, is installed in the axis of the rotary lever.
- Press roller position lock, which takes into account the thickness of the metal being processed.
- A support pipe on which the initial workpiece is laid (instead of the pipe, you can mount a small receiving table made of cold-rolled steel 6 mm thick).
Many details for the design can be borrowed from decommissioned roller conveyors intended for feeding sheets, for example, to sheet shears.
The procedure for manufacturing and assembling hand rollers with three rolls in a home workshop is as follows.
Determined with the dimensions of the installation. For example, with a decrease in the distance between the support posts (compared to those shown in the figure), it is possible to proportionally increase the diameter of the rolls, while the maximum permissible value of their deflection during deformation will not increase. Reduce cross section There should be no support posts.
The material of the racks can be a profile square pipe made of steel type St.3, which can be easily welded. First, stiffeners are welded, and then tubular or solid profiles are welded to them. Welding must be carried out in the jigs to prevent warping of the structure and to ensure strict parallelism of the resulting frame. Small errors for already made racks can be easily corrected by welding the support bearings, which have different heights.
Next, work rolls are made. For this purpose, thick-walled pipes are used, and they must be either cold-rolled or made of stainless steel: in this way the desired roughness can be achieved work surface. It is not recommended to use hot-rolled steel due to the high labor intensity of cleaning followed by grinding the surface of future rolls.
Select the required standard size of the bearing assembly to suit your needs. For sliding bearings, it is better to use standard units manufactured in accordance with GOST 27672. Due to low peripheral speeds and deformation forces, there is no need to use rolling bearings.
The next stage of roller manufacturing is the installation of the rollers. It must be done using laser level to avoid tool distortion, and taking into account the gap between the lower rolls. The holes for fastening the bearing housings to the struts should be made oval for subsequent adjustment.
After making sure that the lower rollers rotate easily, proceed to install the mechanism for moving the upper roller. Roller levers are designed so that in the final position the axis of the pressure roller is located exactly between the axes of the lower rollers, and the stroke of the lever corresponds to the possibility of extraction finished product from the bending zone. The second arm of the lever is made with several holes into which locking pins will be inserted when adjusting the technological gap. The process of adjusting the dimensions is carried out from one installation, taking into account the fact that the left and right levers differ from each other.
The last stage before testing the machine is the installation of the support table or pipe. For convenience, it is worthwhile to provide movable workpiece width limiters.
Homemade rollers can also be installed outdoors, then you will have to additionally make protective cover. Often it is made folding, using rollers as a back support for a deformable metal sheet.