[TheForge] Benders, Rolls and English wheels.

[RIES NIEMI]

American Bender- I talked to these guys at the abana conference, and they
are a cnc machine shop that has started to make hossfeld compatible machines
and dies. According to them, the hossfeld patent has expired, so anyone can
make them. I have ordered some parts, havent got them yet, so I cant say for
sure, but the samples I saw look as good as, and in some cases better than
real hossfeld. I have toured the hossfeld factory, and it is pretty
primitive- they use mostly 1920's era tools to make them. Now this isnt bad
in itself, but their manual drills just arent as accurate as a modern cnc
machine, and I think the american bender stuff is a good value. You will
still need to deal with hossfeld for oddball stuff- american bender is just
skimming the best selling items, whereas hossfeld has 80 years or so of
wooden patterns hanging on the walls.
I would definitely recommend a hossfeld or hossfeld clone over the harbor
freight/ shop outfitters style benders. I have had one for 20 years, and it
is tough and amazingly adaptable to bending almost anything.
Sheet rolls- The four grooves are for rolling wire- you use a different
machine for hemming. 1 1/2" diameter rolls are made for 22 gauge mild steel
or thereabouts. but 7 bucks is a steal.
English wheels- I built a metalace english wheel kit a few years ago, and
their kits are quite good. I use it for aluminum, copper, and steel up to
about 16 ga. I took a workshop from Ron Fournier in Detroit on what he calls
metal fabricating, which is sheet metal with an automotive slant. He covered
english wheels, hand panel beating, and making wooden forms. He has written
the definitive book on the subject, Metal Fabricators Handbook, HP Books,
and it is really informative. Also check this
website:http://www.metalshapers.org/
It has lots of info about people who use english wheels, and what they can
do.
Ries