I think theres a few people in the gate making trade on this forum would anyone like to share ideas drawings or photos of any tools they have made or would like to.
A while ago Welderpaul posted a pic of a very heavy duty ring roller he'd made, can't find the post at the mo but I'm sure he or someone else can find it. It's a cracking bit of kit. I have a set of those rollers and scroll formers that you have GM, my father-in-law gave them to me and I've never really used them much....yet.
Join the yahoo http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ornamentiron/ group and the pics group also. I have pics of my scroller and twister there. You can make a twister real easy, i made mine and it will twist up to 12' pcs. My scroller is motorized as i needed a 1,000 pcs at a time for my projects. I could do 1,000 pcs a day with ease. The best scroller is a http://www.shopoutfitters.com job...Bob
Here are some scrolling pics. Gearbox is a 60:1 with a 3/4 hp motor. 1,000+ in lbs of torque. I use the same gearbox/motor setup on 3 other machines as it is a removeable platform...Bob
Here are some of my twister pics. I call it Mr. Twister. I got the idea for the die from a Chevy truck i followed to work one night. I can twist 3/16"x1" flat as well as 1/2" sq. I could go up to 3/4" sq with another set of dies...Bob
My bender pics. These are just a few of the 500 different parts i bend. I do 99% of my bending on top of the frame so i can see easier plus get the part free. The only thing i bend between the frame is flatbar. The big shepherd hook dies are just cut from 1/2" plate. The bender is just a cheap Harbor Freight 49 dollar cheapie and it has bent a million parts on it...Bob
I bend and twist all my bar cold. HR steel bends rather easy. And MR Twister has a sister. The 3" sq tube i made my base from is 9 feet long and it extends thru the floor, as my twister is on the second floor. So i can do real long pcs or just twist segments with untwisted spaces in between with pcs as long as 14 feet. I have a small hole cut in the floor to hand the steel up thru...Bob