sweeps, splines, and sleeves

[patooyee]

As tube rolling becomes more prevalent I'm seeing some rigs with what appear to be a single tube swept in two different, sometimes opposite, directions. It is my understanding to accomplish this they are rolling two pieces and sleeving them together at a transition point. If not, how is this accomplished?

And in the case of sleeving, how is the weld joint being grinded so clean as to make the transition point visually undetectable?

 

[fl-krawler]

As tube rolling becomes more prevalent I'm seeing some rigs with what appear to be a single tube swept in two different, sometimes opposite, directions. It is my understanding to accomplish this they are rolling two pieces and sleeving them together at a transition point. If not, how is this accomplished?

And in the case of sleeving, how is the weld joint being grinded so clean as to make the transition point visually undetectable?

I have done very little rolled tube so take it with a grain of salt. I usually make a mark in the tube, and roll the tube to that point before reversing the direction. Once I get the slope where I want on that side, I flip the tube over and then roll the opposite side. Same can be done for normal bends , but it is usually easier to just cut and splice the tube

As far as the welded seam.. I use a flap wheel to get it close, then I use a belt sander to finish it off. When using the belt sander, I put the tube in the area between the roller, and the flat, so it helps maintain a round countour of the tube. "JR" on Pirate did have a nice tech article about splicing tube years ago in gen4x4

 

[Elliott]

Patoyee, what did you use to power your roll bender? I remember seeing something on pirate about it a long time ago but couldn't remember.

 

[patooyee]

I was thinking about "investing" in one of these to help hide some seam in some repair work I am about to have to do:

http://www.harborfreight.com/air-belt-sander-97055.html#.Uy9S_KhdV-4

http://www.harborfreight.com/38-in-air-belt-sander-60627.html#.Uy9S_ahdV-4

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-inch-bandfile-belt-sander-92158.html#.Uy9TbqhdV-4

Think they would get the job done?

 

[patooyee]

Patoyee, what did you use to power your roll bender? I remember seeing something on pirate about it a long time ago but couldn't remember.

A 1/2hp 3-phase motor coupled to a 20:1 gear reducer that chain-drives the shaft at 5:1 ratio all driven by a programmable logic controller. If I did it again I would use a 3/4hp motor or even a 1. Recently I thought my motor died and I was all excited because I found a 3/4hp motor that would bolt to my existing gear reducer. But alas, the motor was OK, just one of my wires came loose.

Swagoffroad has a kit that uses a hand held Harbor Freight pipe threader to do the same thing. His goes at about half the speed of mine though.

 

[patooyee]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rJ3gWya8GM

 

[onetoncrawler]

I always use a dual action sander to hide the grind marks on a splice also

 

[Elliott]

What rpm is your motor?

 

[Draco]

I been just cleaning mine up with a flap wheel...Results vary. :

I didn't know what it was till the other day...But I NEED one now.

http://www.amazon.com/Flex-LRP1503VRA-Pipe-Sander-Polisher/dp/B002WTC2JE

 

[SomewhiteGuy]

I been just cleaning mine up with a flap wheel...Results vary. :

I didn't know what it was till the other day...But I NEED one now.

http://www.amazon.com/Flex-LRP1503VRA-Pipe-Sander-Polisher/dp/B002WTC2JE

I have been watching for a deal on one of those on ebay for a couple weeks.

 

[Draco]

I have been watching for a deal on one of those on ebay for a couple weeks.

Buy 2! ;D

 

[SomewhiteGuy]

$175 for this one, I almost won the bid on one last week for $80 but with 3 mins to go we lost power in stupid snow storm and I got jumped.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Polishing-Machine-for-Tig-Plasma-Arc-Welds-40A-Pipe-Polisher-Sander-Grinder-/360886327025?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item54068056f1

 

[Rockwells607]

That's quite the gadget I didn't know they made, I also just use a flap wheel and it works ...ok , but some areas are still noticeable, I'm gonna hafta check one of these out !

 

[1TONTJ]

$175 for this one, I almost won the bid on one last week for $80 but with 3 mins to go we lost power in stupid snow storm and I got jumped.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Polishing-Machine-for-Tig-Plasma-Arc-Welds-40A-Pipe-Polisher-Sander-Grinder-/360886327025?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item54068056f1

Hell yeah, that price is more like it! I've always wanted one of these http://www.trick-tools.com/Fein_RS_12_70E_PS_Pipe_Polisher_Kit_RS_12_70E_PS_1286#.UzIyIdwk9uY but $2400 is ridiculous. Think I'll have to grab one of those off Ebay.

 

[bbone]

I was thinking about "investing" in one of these to help hide some seam in some repair work I am about to have to do:

pics of damage?

 

[patooyee]

There's nothing worth taking pics of. There's minor bends that are obvious that you could see but the worst of it is in the back where the shock bottomed out and kind of tweaked everything. But its a bunch of minor tweaks that aren't really visible unless you're right up on it and looking at it as a whole. We didn't even notice it all until we were sitting there in daylight looking at it the next morning and it took us like an hour to realize how much stuff had moved just slightly.