I know the HF one is supposedly ****. Anyone know of anything affordable that can put a good bead in your typical stainless charge pipes?

 

Bead Form is a really nice quality device. It is just over $400 so I don't really think of it as affordable, but depending on how many you need to do, it just might be worth it.

Me, I just weld three 1/2" long beads on the end of pipes.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by F20Cteg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Me, I just weld three 1/2" long beads on the end of pipes.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Exactly....that's gettin old! I just like to maintain quality on installs and kits I put together for people. Doing the weld bead just is slightly ghetto versus a true bead. Just lookin to upgrade if there is something out there. I'm gonna check that piece out that you have up there.

 

The cheapest one I have found that will do 16 gauge tubing is 1k. Trick tools has alot of them check out there site

 

Here's the Bead Form:

http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump...ODUCT

 

I wish I could find it on here, but there was a guy that made his own using a power steering pully and some othere thing he fabed up.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CBURKE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I wish I could find it on here, but there was a guy that made his own using a power steering pully and some othere thing he fabed up.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ha! I remember that thread...that was a while ago. It was definitely good **** though. I thought I recalled him using an a/c compressor bracket or something. Definitely remember what your talking about.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Top Ramen &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Here's the Bead Form:

http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump...ODUCT

</TD></TR></TABLE>

This here looks like it might be the ticket...pretty affordable and fairly quality lookin.

 

I have a beadform, its the heavy duty one with replaceable bearings and stuff, I think it was like $480 or something like that. I bought it from tricktools. Its a really nice unit, does 16g carbon steel, stainless steel, Al with no issues, just make sure you put a lot of oil on the peice you are beading and on the rollers, it makes it a lot easier.

 

werrrrrrrd

 

The link I posted shows it on sale right now at Eastwood for $405. That's a pretty good price.

 

I don't know if anyone has pitch this idea...

Could a hand punch or a bench punch be used to create dimples?



Have the edges of the hole and punch rounded off, and possible use a smaller punch (i.e. hole being a bit larger than the punch). Punch a whole array of dimples, then you're good. I know it doesn't have the asthetics of an expensive roller.

I think this could be a cheap alternative for some of us home garage diy'ers.

What do you'll think?

 

Beadform works great for charge pipes




Modified by Bailhatch at 9:58 PM 12/18/2006

 

If you plan on doing a lot of stainless with a bead form, call bead form directly and purchase the upgraded shaft option. We used ours daily until we bought an eagle rotary end former. It's a great little machine.

 

Great topic.... nice link from eastwood!

 

wheres the link to the guy that did it with and a/cor p/s bracket??

 

Here it is
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1586762

 

Dang.... I think I'm gonna build one that can be hydraulically operated....

 

That homemade setup isn't cutting it on .065 wall **** though on it's best day. That dude had to turn the pipe by hand on top of it.

I wonder about doing a few dimples around the circumference of the pipe though. Sounds like a descent idea.

 

We built a DIY bead-maker out of a vise grip and some welded pieces.
Basically, put a /\ on the upper jaw, and a bar in the middle of the /\ on the lower jaw. You just work it around the pipe, and it squishes the pipe enough to make a bead.

 

I went ahead and picked up an ebay bead roller. Not too bad for $120 shipped. I had to modify it tho.

1) I welded an 3/8 plate on the back side to prevent/minimize the flexibility. It wasnt stable enough to bead an 18 gauge pipe. It was flexing way to much before. No issues anymore.


2) I shitcan the rotating handle. I had a broken 1/2 to 3/8 inch adapter. It was already snapped, so I just cleaned/grinded the piece and welded it on the end. Now, I can take advantage of a ratcheting rotation than trying to turn that big *** handle.


The result:
This is an aluminized 3 inch 18 gauge pipe

 

I needed a bead roller for the aluminum tubing I have for water lines, and the cheapest one I could find, that would do ¾” tubing, was $400! So I just made one. The female part is an old bearing race and I made the male part on a lathe. Here’s a couple of pics…





and the beads it rolled in the ¾” and 1-1/4” tubing.

 

^very nice! I wanted to make my own... same idea using a bearing piece. Have you tried using that on an 18 gauge pipe? Again, good job man!!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thermal &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">^very nice! I wanted to make my own... same idea using a bearing piece. Have you tried using that on an 18 gauge pipe? Again, good job man!!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks!

I rolled some beads on 22ga. sheet metal, but haven't tried it on 18ga.