I want to build a heavy narrow rolling machine (e.g. slip roll)

I'm thinking of a roller built on the lines of a sheet metal slip roll only quite a bit heavier. Three rolls about 12" wide somewhere 3-4" diameter. I used to try to use a 22 gauge slip roll with thicker material than it was designed for but the gears only touched on their tips and it didn't work well. A design goal is to have a gear train which allows the rolls to be opened way up but still have the drive gears perfectly in mesh. This is the scheme (drawing copied from the Internet in 2017):



I purchased a lot of machinery bits and pieces containing a lot of gears today. I believe I can find 4 gears of the same diametral pitch 3 of which have the same number of teeth.

I would like to hear from people who have made a build similar to this. I am not sure my design chops are strong enough for this project.

If you have any ideas or experiences please share them.

metalmagpie

This is how I approached it, many moons ago.

If your plan is for a conventional 'slip roll', doesn't one side of the roll have to open up to allow cones, etc to be slid off the roll? This usually means gear mesh must be loose so the roll can be lifted on the other end. I built a slip roll, and that's how mine worked.

Stuart

seems like a good idea.

i acquired a hydraulic pump at the metal recycler dump pile a while ago. the two gears that make up the pump are on the order of 3" wide and 3" od and about 10 teeth. i've been thinking for a while i should make a regular rolling mill by simply boring the gear out, fabrication the roller and pressing the gear on it.

however your post has me thinking i could chop the gears into 2 pieces each to get the 4 gears needed.


another question is: who says they need to be gears. if you can drive each roller from its own end, you can use a large diameter pulley and a belt.

johansen said:

who says they need to be gears. if you can drive each roller from its own end, you can use a large diameter pulley and a belt.

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The use of gears allows for turning the rolls in the same (opposite) directions...very difficult to do with a belt or chain.

Stuart

atomarc said:

This is how I approached it, many moons ago.

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I remember those pictures! Amazing! Isn't that actually a pyramid roll, though?

atomarc said:

If your plan is for a conventional 'slip roll', doesn't one side of the roll have to open up to allow cones, etc to be slid off the roll? This usually means gear mesh must be loose so the roll can be lifted on the other end. I built a slip roll, and that's how mine worked.

Click to expand...

I don't see any capability for one end of a roll to be lifted on the machine you show pictures of.

Did you use 1/2" plate for the sides? 5/8"?

metalmagpie

Yes, the roll pictured is a pyramid roll, hence no need to open an end. If I recall, the side plates are 1/2". I did build a 'slip roll' which I can take some pictures of, showing my take on gearing and roll arrangement.

Here is another pix of the pyramid roll with stand and enclosure before I sold it. I added a Chinesium DRO so roll position was repeatable..something the customer asked for.

Stuart

I measured my gears. All 7 diametral pitch. I have 3 with 38 teeth and one with 32 teeth for an idler. Actually the 3 matching gears are double gears with 19/38 teeth. So I can use either the 5.714" OD matching gears or the 3.000" OD matching gears with the 32 tooth idler.

How far can the diameter of the roll vary from the pitch diameter of the drive gears?

metalmagpie

This was my version of a slip roll. Three rolls, two adjustable, one for material thickness and the other for determining finished diameter of item being rolled. Off-gear side can be opened to remove material. However crude it appears it worked very well.

Stuart

This video of any help?

The Rollenator! (Ring Roller Build) - YouTube

His is light duty, but could be scaled or modded.

Have you considered a blacksmiths (or maybe wheelwrights) tire bender? The ones I have seen have had rolls only about 6" long and are a bit more simple than the gear train you have pictured having only one driven roll. I worked in a shop once where used one to roll 1x2" stock on a regular basis. I think new longer rolls could be used in a modified base would do what you need except you would not have the ability to remove stock off the end of the rolls. I'll post some pictures in a bit.