Roll forming - form rolling

Oh yes, !!!!, speaking of boiler ends has anybody ever done this ? Oh bother, cannot find the video now.

Imagine closing the end of a copper pipe by spinning/form rolling the last couple of centimetres through 90 degrees (depends upon pipe diameter ) then all you have to do is solder up the tiny hole in the middle.

Saw a chap doing this on youtube a few days ago, don't know what the final product was going to be, was googling form rolling / roll forming and stumbled across it. Cannot find it in my history.

Would that be a viable way of closing a boiler end ?

Some fairly interesting videos on youtube but cannot find the specific one that I'm talking about.

Bill

Sounds possible, but I think you would only be able to do one end with a former inside the tube, but having to take it out every time the work is annealed, probably half a dozen times at least, I prefer to flange over end caps, these can be inside or outside, your choice. For little boilers I have some outer races from ball bearing raced that are just right, and they have about the right radius on the edge so that the corner is not sharp. You might not need to fill the remaining hole, use it along with a hole at the other end for a stay rod, I use a bit of 1/8" bronze brazing rod with a 1/8" BSW thread on each end and a brass nut soldered in place.

Ian S C

You would have to be very careful the material did not thin down in the process and form a weak spot.

Thanks,

Sounds like a non-starter then.

Still cannot find the video - similar to this one (THIS ONE)

But done by a bloke in a shed on a small lathe with a single hand tool and he completely closed the end over.

He had approx 1" of open pipe copper sticking out of the chuck when he started

Bill

Have you looked in your Youtube history? down the left hand side of YT page.

Edited By JasonB on 27/03/2019 11:38:19

Had a look cannot find it. Must have seen it on another machine. Tried Google history as well.

Bill