Great review. I have used two planetary ring rollers in our shop over the decades, and what we struggled with was always the knurling...the wheel itself doesn't seem to be annealed or case-hardened (not sure if that would help)...or the wheels were just mild steel and too soft...so the knurling wears VERY quickly, and the piece begins to slip. If you have a toolmaker next door who can resurface the wheels, that's the only economical way to do it, but I think they wheels are typically the wrong material. The more serious machines probably use much better wheel material and machining, and they will use a 'steering wheel' to provide smoother and stronger turning, rather than the hand crank, which is naturally going to have a bit of a slow/fast cycle as the arm turns it. Looking at some of the comments, I suspect that most shops will modify the tool, e.g. steering wheel, a new, wider base, new wheels, etc. It's a cost-benefit ratio...
It is a lot of work. But it is cheap! I made tomato cages that took quite a while and would have been less money if I had bought them. A 3/16 " rod seems to be what this is mostly made for. And you can use it to make pieces for repair parts. Thanks for your review!
Excellent review with one major exception: there's another plastic part besides the two you point out, and it's in a critical aspect of the design. The main thick piece that holds the adjustable pole against the other rollers--the thick piece that the adjustment knob screws into, appears to be metal but is also plastic. Mine broke on the first trial run of 3/18" round stock. This is the critical, pressure-bearing part, and it's plastic. Major fail in my view.
When I first got mine , I couldn't keep the stock from walking out so I was gonna weld shoulders on the rollers … When I took them off though , I had a brain fart and simply turned them around and put them back on … No walking out now …
The black roller with the knurling would be trapped. There is a groove where the washer would be for the c-clip that keeps the knurled roller in place. You could perhaps weld some threaded rod to use a nut to keep the knurled roller in place and provide extra shoulder for the stock
I can't believe this is a 6yo video. I bought one of these a few days ago and its as if he is talking about mine! The slope on mine is so bad that the bar stock trying to slide out has enough force to pop the C-clip off trying to keep the roller in place 🤦♂️ zero progress.
Got this to make some drink holders for the yard and camping. Not happy, it says it will make rings from 3" to however big you need. Tried making a 3" one, out of 1/4" rod, which is about the right size I need, started fine but I got all the way to the end of the adjustment and still had a 2 1/2" gap before the ends get close to touching, not to mention the knurling on the dies tore up the sides of the rod, had to use the belt sander to smooth it out. Got a good 4" one with 3/4" flat stock, so I am guessing the smallest diameter you can get is going to be maybe 3 3/4".
Is there a way to pitch that arbor up instead of down? I've got a mill and lathe but I dont want to go crazy reinventing the wheel (so to speak) a little tweak to the shaft seems no biggie.
Plunge a 1/4" round nose bit into something at a depth of 1/16", the width of the groove you'll make is about 0.217". Yet still, the diameter of that groove is a perfect 0.250". If you didn't also measure the depth of that groove, you have no reasonable way to determine if 1/4" round bar will ever fit or not. I suspect your assumption is wrong and that 1/4" bar fits fine. That said, I appreciate you taking the time to measure how far off the idler shaft is. Were the other two straight?
Very true to your points. I didn't have anything to test on it as far as the 1/4" round, and that was one of the common complaints that I read was that a 1/4" rod would get gouged up by the edge of the groove. I haven't tried another model since this one. Next time I am in need of a roller, I will try again and hopefully I will get a good one.Thanks for watching.
This one made really good corkscrews. I know allot of people have had success with them, but not on my first try. Next time I need one for a project I will try again. Thanks for watching.
First off Bob, it is a dial indicator not a micrometer. Second, if you want to use your logic that you can not use an expensive tool to test a cheap tool, well then I was using a $10 Harbor Freight indicator to test a Harbor Freight Ring Roller. Lastly, this tool was clearly defective, and I wanted to give an objective reason for it and not just announce "all Chinese tools suck". I am glad that you got one that works well. My results show what most people find with Harbor Freight tools, when you get a good one, they are a good value, but from time to time there is a poor quality tool. Lastly, I reviewed the entire video and no where in it did I say that I was looking for perfection.
bought one of these with a differentn brand name ENS just a question should the adjusting rod go right up to the last bit of thread ? mine seems to be stopping before the end of its travel thanks
The arm on the idler is not relieved enough at the bottom and binds against the adjuster screw. That arm I believe is plastic, which also may be part of the taper issue the guy is having. I will dismantle mine at some point and see if I can alter it. Either by adding more clearance or just moving the pivot point. Smallest diameter I can roll without mod is about 5". It's not really a problem for me since the bender works for the smaller diameters and is a lot quicker.
Of course. To make a 40-inch ring, cut a 125.6" long piece of material of the desired dimensions and roll it until the ends meet, then weld the ends together.
That will get you by for small projects but if your a serious fabrication shop get a shop outfitters #338 ring & arch roller It cost more but you get what you pay for it will roll 1/4 ×3" fb- 3/8" ×2"-1/2" square stock and any material under these specs ,and you can buy dies to roll tubing .Harbor freight sells crap
JK thanks for commenting. Actually it won't get me by for small projects because it was out of alignment. I had never seen Shop Outfitters before and that ring and arch roller looks interesting and at a good price point. And I disagree that you get what you pay for all of the time. I have many piles of expensive crap that I have bought over the years. You don't get something for nothing I will say, because if it takes more material or labor to make a better product a company isn't going to lower there price to sell it to you. Harbor Freight has some items that are by far the best value out there, and they have some of the biggest piles of crap out there as well. Thanks. R.J.
Oh man, what a POS. The pin for the handle was stuck in the handle. Once I got that out, the hole for the pin would not line up with the hole in the roller. It completely screws up the surface of the 1/4" rod. It almost works but its not worth my time even for the cheap price.
I dont see how the gears themselves would have any affect on the ability to make a circle, if the parts in contact with the metal to make the circle had an issue then i would say most def is an issue.
Unless you have the knowledge and equipment needed to correct obvious design faults and defects, it's normally a mistake to buy cheap tools and equipment.
Also i have watched several videos on this exact tool and I dont see them having or complaining at all about using it. The best part is he uses the harbor freight dial indicator. Is the table even flat? I am not defending it being a harbor freight, but I am questioning the review of it. First off if u are using lets say 1" strips, and the contact part is lets say half inch, it will most def pull that side tighter making it not sit perfectly flat laying it on table without tweaking it. Watch these instead lol ua-cam.com/video/XhaQGQH9Tts/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/XhaQGQH9Tts/v-deo.html
Yes, I used a very inexpensive dial indicator and an aluminum welding bench as a reference surface. This tool was not worth my time to setup on my granite surface plate and use a 0.0001" Interapid indicator. The results were 0.019" over 1.25" that is a ton of taper. The other shafts were parallel with each other. If you can't hold 0.001-0.002" of taper over that short of a distance, you shouldn't be making parts. Your points about the setup are valid, and I did qualify my setup enough to know that my it was certainly not out that far but it was not valuable footage to put in the video. I have used other HF rollers since with decent results. This was a poorly made unit and it went back the next day. As I said, sometimes you get poor quality from HF, and many, many times you get a great value.
Great review. I have used two planetary ring rollers in our shop over the decades, and what we struggled with was always the knurling...the wheel itself doesn't seem to be annealed or case-hardened (not sure if that would help)...or the wheels were just mild steel and too soft...so the knurling wears VERY quickly, and the piece begins to slip. If you have a toolmaker next door who can resurface the wheels, that's the only economical way to do it, but I think they wheels are typically the wrong material.
The more serious machines probably use much better wheel material and machining, and they will use a 'steering wheel' to provide smoother and stronger turning, rather than the hand crank, which is naturally going to have a bit of a slow/fast cycle as the arm turns it. Looking at some of the comments, I suspect that most shops will modify the tool, e.g. steering wheel, a new, wider base, new wheels, etc. It's a cost-benefit ratio...
It is a lot of work. But it is cheap! I made tomato cages that took quite a while and would have been less money if I had bought them. A 3/16 " rod seems to be what this is mostly made for. And you can use it to make pieces for repair parts. Thanks for your review!
Excellent review with one major exception: there's another plastic part besides the two you point out, and it's in a critical aspect of the design. The main thick piece that holds the adjustable pole against the other rollers--the thick piece that the adjustment knob screws into, appears to be metal but is also plastic. Mine broke on the first trial run of 3/18" round stock. This is the critical, pressure-bearing part, and it's plastic. Major fail in my view.
I am starting to make some of these parts, would you be interested, that is if you have not thrown it out.? Lee
Great video. I use the same one in my shop to make headlight rings and other parts. I got lucky and mine works straight out of the box..
When I first got mine , I couldn't keep the stock from walking out so I was gonna weld shoulders on the rollers … When I took them off though , I had a brain fart and simply turned them around and put them back on … No walking out now …
Has this worked out long-term for you, or did you eventually move to a better ring roller?
@@holton345 I don't use it every day , but when I need it , it works fine for me ... I usually roll 1/8 x 1" flat bar ...
Could you weld a washer on there to keep the stock from sliding off?
The black roller with the knurling would be trapped. There is a groove where the washer would be for the c-clip that keeps the knurled roller in place. You could perhaps weld some threaded rod to use a nut to keep the knurled roller in place and provide extra shoulder for the stock
I can't believe this is a 6yo video. I bought one of these a few days ago and its as if he is talking about mine! The slope on mine is so bad that the bar stock trying to slide out has enough force to pop the C-clip off trying to keep the roller in place 🤦♂️ zero progress.
Got this to make some drink holders for the yard and camping. Not happy, it says it will make rings from 3" to however big you need. Tried making a 3" one, out of 1/4" rod, which is about the right size I need, started fine but I got all the way to the end of the adjustment and still had a 2 1/2" gap before the ends get close to touching, not to mention the knurling on the dies tore up the sides of the rod, had to use the belt sander to smooth it out. Got a good 4" one with 3/4" flat stock, so I am guessing the smallest diameter you can get is going to be maybe 3 3/4".
Yep, it can be a good tool for some projects, but there are certainly some limitations.
Any idea where I can buy a ring like this at the #4:35 mark?
Is there a way to pitch that arbor up instead of down? I've got a mill and lathe but I dont want to go crazy reinventing the wheel (so to speak) a little tweak to the shaft seems no biggie.
Good thorough review. Very useful to me.
Thanks for watching.
Plunge a 1/4" round nose bit into something at a depth of 1/16", the width of the groove you'll make is about 0.217". Yet still, the diameter of that groove is a perfect 0.250". If you didn't also measure the depth of that groove, you have no reasonable way to determine if 1/4" round bar will ever fit or not. I suspect your assumption is wrong and that 1/4" bar fits fine.
That said, I appreciate you taking the time to measure how far off the idler shaft is. Were the other two straight?
Very true to your points. I didn't have anything to test on it as far as the 1/4" round, and that was one of the common complaints that I read was that a 1/4" rod would get gouged up by the edge of the groove. I haven't tried another model since this one. Next time I am in need of a roller, I will try again and hopefully I will get a good one.Thanks for watching.
@R.J.'s workshop Love the video, but is there a ring roller that you do recommend?
Sorry, I never replaced this one so I don't have any more experience.
I gotta say every time I see someone use a dial caliper in a HF Tool I just laugh
mine broke the first try .the plastic piece cracked right away .I will rebuild it with steel .
mine did the same thing. feed it the other way and it worked great.
This one made really good corkscrews. I know allot of people have had success with them, but not on my first try. Next time I need one for a project I will try again. Thanks for watching.
Just looking at it with indicator in place I saw the shaft was not in a straight line
You are putting a micrometer on a $70.00 machine. If you want perfection you have to pay for it. It does what I need it to do.
First off Bob, it is a dial indicator not a micrometer. Second, if you want to use your logic that you can not use an expensive tool to test a cheap tool, well then I was using a $10 Harbor Freight indicator to test a Harbor Freight Ring Roller. Lastly, this tool was clearly defective, and I wanted to give an objective reason for it and not just announce "all Chinese tools suck". I am glad that you got one that works well. My results show what most people find with Harbor Freight tools, when you get a good one, they are a good value, but from time to time there is a poor quality tool. Lastly, I reviewed the entire video and no where in it did I say that I was looking for perfection.
Is it available in india / Amezon
bought one of these with a differentn brand name ENS just a question should the adjusting rod go right up to the last bit of thread ? mine seems to be stopping before the end of its travel thanks
The arm on the idler is not relieved enough at the bottom and binds against the adjuster screw. That arm I believe is plastic, which also may be part of the taper issue the guy is having. I will dismantle mine at some point and see if I can alter it. Either by adding more clearance or just moving the pivot point. Smallest diameter I can roll without mod is about 5". It's not really a problem for me since the bender works for the smaller diameters and is a lot quicker.
I have used one of these and got acceptable results, but that was with a lot of tweaking and adjusting. They are hardly precise.
Could you turn a40 inch circle
Of course. To make a 40-inch ring, cut a 125.6" long piece of material of the desired dimensions and roll it until the ends meet, then weld the ends together.
Well what do you expect for like %10 cost of a real one.
That will get you by for small projects but if your a serious fabrication shop get a shop outfitters #338 ring & arch roller It cost more but you get what you pay for it will roll 1/4 ×3" fb- 3/8" ×2"-1/2" square stock and any material under these specs ,and you can buy dies to roll tubing .Harbor freight sells crap
JK thanks for commenting. Actually it won't get me by for small projects because it was out of alignment. I had never seen Shop Outfitters before and that ring and arch roller looks interesting and at a good price point. And I disagree that you get what you pay for all of the time. I have many piles of expensive crap that I have bought over the years. You don't get something for nothing I will say, because if it takes more material or labor to make a better product a company isn't going to lower there price to sell it to you. Harbor Freight has some items that are by far the best value out there, and they have some of the biggest piles of crap out there as well. Thanks. R.J.
Oh man, what a POS. The pin for the handle was stuck in the handle. Once I got that out, the hole for the pin would not line up with the hole in the roller.
It completely screws up the surface of the 1/4" rod. It almost works but its not worth my time even for the cheap price.
Will this bend rebar?
No, this won't bend rebar. Only 1/8" thick and less for this tool.
Turn the roller round the other way.
I dont see how the gears themselves would have any affect on the ability to make a circle, if the parts in contact with the metal to make the circle had an issue then i would say most def is an issue.
Unless you have the knowledge and equipment needed to correct obvious design faults and defects, it's normally a mistake to buy cheap tools and equipment.
Those things are junk. That's a plastic chunk that holds it all together in the middle. Run, don't walk away from those piles of dung.
Also i have watched several videos on this exact tool and I dont see them having or complaining at all about using it. The best part is he uses the harbor freight dial indicator. Is the table even flat? I am not defending it being a harbor freight, but I am questioning the review of it. First off if u are using lets say 1" strips, and the contact part is lets say half inch, it will most def pull that side tighter making it not sit perfectly flat laying it on table without tweaking it. Watch these instead lol ua-cam.com/video/XhaQGQH9Tts/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/XhaQGQH9Tts/v-deo.html
Yes, I used a very inexpensive dial indicator and an aluminum welding bench as a reference surface. This tool was not worth my time to setup on my granite surface plate and use a 0.0001" Interapid indicator. The results were 0.019" over 1.25" that is a ton of taper. The other shafts were parallel with each other. If you can't hold 0.001-0.002" of taper over that short of a distance, you shouldn't be making parts. Your points about the setup are valid, and I did qualify my setup enough to know that my it was certainly not out that far but it was not valuable footage to put in the video. I have used other HF rollers since with decent results. This was a poorly made unit and it went back the next day. As I said, sometimes you get poor quality from HF, and many, many times you get a great value.
Typical horror freight tool.
Junk
Save your money , this tool sucks!
man stop repeating yourself!