Strengthening sheet metal without a bead roller?

[CGCINC]

I'm building an A frame tool box for the nose of a trailer and I want to add some beads to the bottom of the box so it holds up a little better.
I am using 11ga. material.
Is it possible to do Without a bead roller? Maybe round a piece of 1/8" or 1/4" flat stock and hammer it in?

Any idea's are appreciated!!

[Trip59]

Groove a piece of hardwood for an anvil and round another piece (or weld a dowel) for a punch. Lining it up will be the trickiest part. Louvers were done this way for years (and still are) and I've seen beading done similarly on pieces which wouldn't fit into a roller.

[fdcmiami]

I'm building an A frame tool box for the nose of a trailer and I want to add some beads to the bottom of the box so it holds up a little better.
I am using 11ga. material.
Is it possible to do Without a bead roller? Maybe round a piece of 1/8" or 1/4" flat stock and hammer it in?

Any idea's are appreciated!!

i'm curious what the bead roller is for. my experience with a bead roller was when we made a run of pipe, generally 16 ga or less, we would do a pipe lock on the seam, crimp the end and put a bead in about 1 1/4 inches to prevent the next piece of pipe from sliding down any further as it was being assembled. a sectional profile of the bead would be raised and semi circular.

ll ga material. .125 is pretty thk, why would you have to do anything to it? if you're worried about oil canning then tack a piece of angle legs down to it.

[Trip59]

On flat panels, the bead adds rigidity. Think about the back of an oven or a washing machine, the pattern of ribs... same concept.

[Rodsmachineshop]

here a cheap one looks made good http://www.ebay.com/itm/Woodward-She...4b3db2&vxp=mtr

[fdcmiami]

here a cheap one looks made good http://www.ebay.com/itm/Woodward-She...4b3db2&vxp=mtr

sure, 18 ga no problem.

[Trip59]

sure, 18 ga no problem.

It would cry if 11ga were run through it. In all honesty, thinking now, so might a hardwood backer, you might want to do that out of steel or maybe Al if possible (my post above). I doubt you'd find a roller under 4 figures in price that could handle 11ga, though you might call local fab shops to see what they'd charge to run it...

What about welding on some small channel on the bottom or inside, running tacks, not a full bead.