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Old 05-26-2021, 07:34 PM
Blown353 Blown353 is offline
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I can confirm that Jody's Beadform works great, even on 0.065" stainless, as I was in possession of Jody's for the last who knows how many years while trying to get my car finished and only recently returned it to him... (thanks again, by the way.)

A lot of the cheaper bead rollers won't handle stainless tubing. Aluminum and mild steel are OK, but they'll tweak or flat out break if doing stainless.

I have a tubing beadroller die set for my Mittler Brothers panel bead roller that also works, but I don't care for how far back it puts the bead from the end of the tube... in some tight radius / tight clearance situations it locates the bead too far back. It also can't do any smaller than 1.25" tubing and is only rated up to .059" mild steel or 0.043" stainless. No such diameter or thickness problems on the Beadform that Jody posted, it locates the bead very close to the end of the tubing and will handle up to 0.065" wall stainless.

I recently bought the K2 bead roller from Furick. It also locates the bead close to the end of the tube like the Beadform, and it's a really stout piece. It lacks some of the "nice to have" things of the Beadforms like the roller handle and large T handle on the tension knob, but it's $200 cheaper and has the strength where it counts in the frame, shafts, bushings, and gearing. The latest Beadform 3 HD is probably the best unit out there though-- but it's also $200 more expensive. If I was using it every day on stainless I would have bought the Beadform 3 HD along with the motor kit, but I only need to roll beads on tubing a couple of times a year when doing radiator, intake, or intercooler piping.

https://furickcup.com/product/k2-bead-roller/
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Last edited by Blown353; 05-26-2021 at 07:48 PM.
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