Tubing Roller stand

[MarkBall2]

About a year ago I bought one of those Harbor Freight tubing rollers. I also bought the 1/2" square tube roller dies for it while I was there. I make UDS grills & stuff out of the 1/2" square tubing. Works pretty easily for the light tubing, but for round tubing I think it needs a bit more oomph.

Anyway, I had this old tube leg printer stand..... We've all seen em, the 1.25" tubing bent into a hoop, then little 3/8" long wood screws holding on a particle board top.......... it finally gave up the ghost. I moved it when I got Willy & it was about to collapse.

So yesterday I finally had enough of the stand about to fall over. I disassembled the stand, grabbed some 1.25" angle & welded it to the bent tube legs. I didn't want them to be quite square, so I added about 3/4" to the caster end of the tubing, for an approximate 5* angle.

I had a friend of mine that gave me some 1/4" plate used to support battery racks for a phone company. I welded two plates together to end up with a piece of 1/4" plate about 17.5" wide by 21" long. After grinding down the weld on both sides, I welded the plate to the angle. Drilled a couple of 7/16" holes & bolted the roller down.

I was actually surprised at how stable it is. I used the original shelf braces to keep the legs from racking. Took me longer to grind the plate welds than it did to make the whole contraption.

I figure while I'm between classes, I better keep myself busy. Especially if I don't have to pay for metal to work with. I'm due to start my next class Aug 2nd, so then I can get back to completing the repairs on Willy.

[getatorch]

Looks good and, handy. Nice set up.

[Vernon]

Hey Mark,
Nice job on the table. And now you can roll all kinds of stuff.
Vernon

[sandrailmike]

Looks nice, and rolls out of the way when not in use.

[Mild Steel]

Nice job on the roller stand. You might want to put shelf or drawer on it to store the dies so they are close at hand. I must admit that I am growing more fond of wheels and casters since I am running out of space in my workshop but I wonder if your stand will want to roll around when you a rolling tubing. Have you tried it yet?

[MarkBall2]

I put the lower shelf back on the brackets I welded to the legs. That's where the extra die's are stored.

As far as the rolling around when working with the tubing, it didn't move before I rebuilt the stand, so I doubt it will move on this one. All the torque is on the top roller, the lower rollers just float.

[martinmarine]

Hi MarkBall2,

How do you like the HF tubing roller? It would be really easy to motorize it. Pick up one of HF's overhead winches and attach it to the shaft. The HF winch even comes with a forward/reverse handheld pendant control. Check it out on one of my tubing rollers:

Also pictured is the cart I bought from Sam's Club and modified for the roller. I took the top shelf and flipped the end pieces around so that it would be flat on top and not dished. I then built a Starboard top and attached the roller.

[MarkBall2]

Well, I specifically got it to build smoker grates & charcoal basket rings for the Upright Drum Smoker kits I make. I bought the 1/2" square tubing die set at the same time, that's what I make the rings out of.

Rolling the 1/2" tubing isn't hard to do, I can do it slow enough that I can control the shape a bit better. Motorized would be ok, if I were doing longer lengths of heavier round tube, but manual works for my needs.

Here's an example of the grates:

[USMCPOP]

Martinmarine,

Which version of the HF hoist is that and what's the end of the shaft look like as far as adapting a coupler/sprocket or whatever?

[martinmarine]

The hoist is Item #93251. The shaft looks like a giant hex key. You can get the coupler already machined to fit from this company: www.nauticmetal.com. They manufacture the bender and roller. The speed of the hoist is perfect for crowning. It is easily controlled with the pendant. The hoist also has a lot of power! I can crown 2' schedule 40 T5 anodized aluminum pipe effortlessly.

I adapted the hoist to another roller I built myself. One hand controls the back and forth, the other hand controls the amount of bend. It is very easy to use!

Take care,
Raymond