Rollers are one of the most important equipment in metallurgical production. They help bend metal sheets, pipes, and other oval and other shaped parts. In addition, rollers are used in jewelry to accurately bend products.
Below we will tell you what rollers are, how three-roll models differ from four-roll models, and how to make them yourself.
Rollers: operating principle
The key working mechanism of the device is a rotating cylinder through which hot sheets of metal are passed and bent. Rolling machines can be equipped with cylinders from 2 to 5 pieces, but three-roll and four-roll products are most often used.
The parts are bent through the action of the third rear shaft, and the fixing radius depends on the distance between the upper and rear shaft.
Sometimes metal rollers break and require replacement. When working with iron, the machine must be constantly heated, and the layers of iron after the rollers go into the furnace, they are heated there, and then pumped again. After that they go back to the machine.
After roller treatment the cross section of the metal is reduced, and it becomes longer under the influence high temperature metal and degree of pressure.
To obtain a cylindrical product, the rear shaft must be adjusted parallel to the front one, and to make a cone, the rear shaft must be set at an angle relative to the front one.
There are roller models that can be used to process metal directly on the table, but they are not very functional. You can work with them simplify with fasteners. The cost of rollers depends on their dimensions. And if you decide to make the machine yourself, you will save a lot.
The functions of modern rolling machines, home-made and factory-made, three-roll and four-roll, are as follows:
- the ability to bend pipes up to 160 degrees;
- working with metal pipes;
- deformation of pipes regardless of their diameter.
Areas of application of machines
Roller mills are widely used in the production of things such as:
- chimneys;
- air ducts;
- pipes;
- ventilation systems;
- gutters.
Thanks to its compact dimensions, rollers can be used anywhere, right on construction site, and hand-held instruments will not spoil polymer coating metal
For food industry Crushing-type rollers are used, and for chemical processing – sheet bending, sheeting and others.
Features of machines for metal
Without rolling machine impossible to shape sheet metal cylindrical shape, A pipe rollers help to arrange drainage system
. Machines with forging cylinders are needed for cold bending of metal blanks; also, thanks to rollers, you can process:
- plastic;
- ductile metal;
- rubber compounds.
You need to choose one or another machine depending on the thickness of the metal:
- twin rollers include two parallel shafts, the upper one has a small cross-section and is made of high-strength steel, and the lower one has large diameter section and made of steel coated with rubber. Depending on the pressure force of the pipe, its outlet diameter is selected;
- three-rollers can be symmetrical or asymmetrical, they are often used in the production of ventilation, round gutters and radius parts. In addition, three-roll rollers are used when processing products made of copper, iron, steel, zinc, etc.;
- four-roll designs equipped with an additional roller at the bottom to simplify the rolling process.
The most common rollers are three-roll and four-roll. Thus, three-rollers have the following distinctive properties:
- a sheet whose width is less than 6 mm will slip between the shafts;
- the sheet rolling speed should be a maximum of 5 m per minute;
- it is difficult to operate the machine due to the lack of exact coordinates of the metal clamping point;
- affordable price.
But four-roll rollers have the following characteristics:
![](https://i0.wp.com/stroymaster-base.ru/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/f636721bd5d1f64cd8b6ece5f7017048.jpg)
Classification of machines
According to the bending method, rollers are:
- segmental, where the pipes are bent under the action of one pulling segment;
- mandrels, which deform thin-walled pipes;
- spring. Thanks to the presence of a spring, the plastic bends without deformation;
- crossbow, which are designed for pipes of one diameter or another.
Machines according to the method of use are divided into the following categories:
![](https://i2.wp.com/stroymaster-base.ru/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/2a46321959999ef35933fe466f9ea0d1.jpg)
If you purchase or make a machine with your own hands for small household needs, then it is desirable that it have the following characteristics:
- mobility and light weight;
- compactness;
- economical in terms of energy consumption, since a powerful device can damage home wiring.
Making a machine yourself
Naturally, assembling the machine with your own hands will be very expensive in terms of time and load, but if you plan to use it for minor repairs, That homemade assembly there will be more economical option than the factory model, costing 20 thousand rubles and more.
At self-assembly rollers, do not make such mistakes:
- do not allow cracks to appear on the metal profile;
- do not allow compression and tension of the surface at the point of load on the structural part;
- Do not squeeze or deform parts before working.
Before you start working, prepare a project drawing, materials and details. The work steps will be as follows:
![](https://i1.wp.com/stroymaster-base.ru/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/585c8e90c96caff31cc877842fb58c3b.jpg)
Here the product is ready. As you can see, rollers can be purchased at finished form, or do it yourself, having the required tools, drawings, and having the necessary skills.
The rollers are universal equipment, allowing you to effectively cope with sheet bending operations. It’s not that difficult to make, but to do this you need to first get acquainted with serial models, their design and operating principle.
Design Features
Considering the fact that you are going to install your rollers in certain room, you should immediately decide on their dimensions. This parameter, which directly depends on the length of the installed shafts, will determine what width of sheet blanks you can process on a device made by yourself. When deciding on the size of hand rollers, you should also take into account the fact that processing sheet blanks with a width of more than 1.2 meters using them will be quite difficult physically. The weight of a homemade machine will affect the ability to move it around the room and transport it.
Drawing of three-roll plate bending rollers with electric drive (click to enlarge)
In addition to the dimensions and weight of future rollers, it is necessary to determine the following characteristics of such equipment:
- the diameter of the rolls - the main working parts of the device (this parameter, which is quite important, will determine the maximum radius with which you can bend the metal sheets being processed);
- the maximum distance at which the upper thrust roll can be located from the lower ones;
- the maximum distance to which the lower rollers can move apart;
- the speed at which the processed sheet material can move between the rolls.
An important parameter to pay attention to special attention When developing a drawing of future rollers, the rigidity of their design is important. During processing metal sheets Significant mechanical loads are experienced not only by the rollers, but also by all other components - the frame, the drive mechanism, etc. That is why the choice of the operation scheme of the rollers, as well as the selection of materials for its implementation, should be done with special care.
Most often they are used for the manufacture of 3-roll rollers, since the increase in the number of working bodies is so low-power hand-held devices leads to an increase in the level of load exerted on its drive mechanism.
Once the drawings of your future rollers have been developed and the materials have been prepared, you can begin manufacturing the machine. Before assembling it, you need to make the following elements.
Support frameThe lower rollers of the equipment will be installed on it. Such a frame can be made from two sheets of thick metal, which are connected to each other by stiffening ribs (you can use several pipes for this). To give them additional rigidity, it is necessary to weld to the side surface of the sheets from which the frame will be made. steel corners. The support shafts on the elements of such a frame are installed in special grooves, which should be pre-marked and cut out.
The top roll will be located on them. To make such racks, it is better to use not pipes, but a massive U-shaped profile made of steel. To ensure vertical movement of the upper roll, a worm gear is suitable.
Drive mechanismIt will consist of three sprockets, a chain and a mechanism for tensioning it.
The rollers themselves, which will do the main work of deformation sheet metal, it is better to purchase a factory-made one, rather than using pipes for this or trying to turn them into lathe on one's own.
You will also need a grinder, welding machine, drill and set of plumbing tools. The procedure for making rollers with your own hands is as follows.
- Pre-prepared machine components, the dimensions of which must exactly correspond to the drawing, are connected to each other by welding.
- The upper and lower rolls are installed in places previously prepared for them on the frame and support posts.
- The roller drive mechanism is assembled.
- After the equipment is assembled, its performance is tested constituent elements and the correctness of their interaction with each other.
Master Kudelya © 2013 Copying of site materials is permitted only with indication of the author and a direct link to the source site
In these homemade rollers and there is not much to describe. Initially they were made for rolling filigree, for leveling and straightening sheet materials, but due to the fact that I did not specifically make figured streams, they were subsequently used for rolling materials for sculpting. This also applies to plastics Super Sculpey, Fimo and even our Tsvetik :) It’s even suitable for sculptural clay. For two-component Epoxy Putty it is suitable, but pre-lined with polyethylene.
The adjustment here is made separately for each side. Maybe someone needs to make a cake of variable thickness :))
But seriously speaking, this greatly simplifies the design.
In purchased rollers, adjustment is carried out by one turntable, then rotation is transmitted through gears to both arms. Here, each arm is adjusted separately. To make this process easier, I have a set of calibrated plates.
Everything else can be seen from the photo.
The only inconvenience is that you have to turn the handle while placing the device on the edge of the table. Who has it easy now?
Detailing
All parts for manufacturing are presented in the drawings:
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 strips of any given thickness or width, and even with square section. If you make streams in the rollers, it is easy to obtain any shaped rolled products for a variety of auxiliary or main operations.
So, 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. Bed - welded, made of sheet steel 10...15 mm thick (or cast according to 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. Pressure 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.
Previous publications:
- Two drill attachments for grinding and sawing
Other materials about homemade machines on the website: | |
---|---|
A rolling machine (rolling machine, rollers) is a universal equipment used in the construction and repair industry for bending various metals.
1 Why are rolling units needed and what are they?
Such machines are used in any modern enterprise for the production of conical, oval and cylindrical products from sheet metal. The procedure for manufacturing such structures is called rolling. It makes it possible to obtain any pipes, blanks for subsequent stamping, and a variety of finished metal products.
Simple rolling equipment is also used in everyday life, when you need to make gutters, chimneys, pipes, air ducts, and other products for roofing and construction work. Modern rolling machines allow you to work with almost any metal. They bend sheets made of alloy and carbon alloys, aluminum, and cast iron without any problems.
There are also models of rolling equipment that work with polycarbonate blanks.
All the sheet metal bending units we describe are divided into the following groups:
- manual;
- electromechanical;
- hydraulic.
The manual machine can be mounted on a stand (floor-standing) or on a workbench (desktop). It does not have a mechanical drive, so it requires the use of muscle force to perform work on it. Manual machines are very easy to use. Their elementary design ensures high reliability of equipment operation over a long period of time.
Hand rollers are designed to produce pipes and other sheet metal products up to 1.5–2 millimeters thick. They are light and compact, which allows them to be carried and used directly at the site of certain work (roofing, repairs). And most importantly, they do not need electricity. At a price, a tabletop and floor-mounted manual unit is always preferable to an electromechanical one.
Machines with an electric motor equipped with a gearbox are more efficient in operation. They facilitate and significantly speed up the pipe bending process. The electromechanical unit is installed permanently in the appropriate workshop of the enterprise and is used for processing metal up to 4 millimeters thick.
Hydraulic equipment belongs to the heavy class. It is used for the manufacture of pipes and other structures in industrial scale at power engineering, shipbuilding and machine-building plants. In terms of its technical potential, a hydraulic machine is several times superior to electromechanical and manual ones. Hydraulics can produce pipes from metal sheets up to 8 millimeters thick. Hydraulic equipment is often equipped with program control.
2 A little about the design and operating principle of the machines
The main unit of the described machines is a cast bed. It is made from steel or cast iron. A special deformation mechanism consisting of several (3–4) rolls is mounted on the frame. Two rolls are stationary; rotation during operation is performed by the third and, if any, the fourth. The moving shafts can also move vertically.
The upper roll is fixed on the frame according to a scheme that makes it possible to quickly remove it if necessary or quickly configure it for the production of pipes with different sections. Adjustment of this structural element is performed with a single wing-type screw. If there are grooves on the work rolls, they can be used to bend not only pipes, but also rods or thick wire. A manual machine for bending metal usually has three rolls, an electromechanical one - 3-4. But hydraulic units are always produced with four rolls.
The process of making pipes on any unit is truly simple:
- first, a sheet of metal is clamped between the middle and outer shaft using a special handle on a machine;
- then press the workpiece against them with a third roller;
- they begin to manually rotate the rollers or start the electric motor.
Passing through the shafts at a certain speed, the metal bends under the right angles. To make pipes or gutters with your own hands decent quality, can be purchased manual machine. By and large, there is no need to even buy one (although they are inexpensive), since you can assemble a homemade unit and effectively use it to perform minor works. For information on how to do this, see the next section of the article.
3 A simple homemade unit for rolling metal
Anyone who sets himself a similar task can make such a machine with his own hands. We will very briefly describe from what materials and exactly how you can make a homemade unit. First you need to take a frame made of pipes or a curved profile that will serve as a frame.
Then we prepare the profile U-shaped(ideally when the material for it is hardened steel) for manufacturing vertical support our equipment. The deforming unit of the rolling machine is located in the open (upper) part of the profile. You can fix it using a clamp with a thread. The lower part of the U-profile is secured under the frame.
After this, we take the transmission chain, without which the roller device will not work, and mount it on the sprockets. Here it is important to tension the chain well and be sure to check the ease of its movement.
Then we install the feed handle and attach the entire mechanism to the frame using rolling bearings. You have made the simplest manual rolling machine with your own hands! It is advisable to provide in its design a special mechanism that allows you to adjust the gap between the shafts. Then you will be able to process metal of different thicknesses.
It is easy to make a more complex rolling mechanism with your own hands. There is now a lot of material on the Internet on this issue. Find a site with relevant information, look at the drawings of homemade installations and make your own equipment that is ideal for you.
4 Popular brands of hand looms
The modern market of metalworking equipment is able to satisfy any needs. Everyone can find the machine they need at a very reasonable price. It is easy to purchase an inexpensive compact installation for bending pipes with your own hands, and a professional floor-standing unit for a large production workshop or a modest private workshop.
The range of mechanical rolling machines with electric motors is no less impressive. The popular electromechanical roller machines are produced by the companies already mentioned, as well as by Russian factories. Let's describe a few popular models such equipment:
![](https://i1.wp.com/tutmet.ru/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/elektromexanicheskij-valcovochnyj-stanok-trub-svoimi-rukami-7.jpg)
As you can see, the choice of rolling equipment is currently very good. You can easily purchase both professional machines for use in production and amateur units for home use.