Slip Roll - Aluminum?

Question

We're a small shop and we're looking to purchase a machine to roll parts.

I'd need something with the capacity to roll 1/8 inch aluminum. Width wouldn't need to be more than 18 inches--the more, the better but not necessary. Manual (hand crank) is also fine.

Do any of you know of a slip roll that would handle 1/8 aluminum, or is my only option a plate roller? There's a pretty big jump in price from slip rolls to plate rollers, and I can't justify the cost of a plate roller.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks,

Brian

Bert Plank · Accepted Answer

Build one, its not that hard.  I built the roller that is shown on metalweb news in their dropbox.  It does an excellent job on 3/16 aluminum up to 24" wide.Bert

William Wixon · Answer

that's interesting. bert, could you point me to the article itself? i went to metalweb news and though i COULD search their site for it, it would be a lot easier if there was a direct link to the article, or even a file name to search for. (it seems metalwebnews.com and metalworking.com are two separate entities and the "dropbox" at metalworking.com is *HUGE* and comprises several years worth of "drops".)

b.w.

Bob Engelhardt · Answer

OK ... MetalWebNews ( does not have a drop box, per se.  They do have various submitted projects, including a "METAL FABRICATION [Forming, Assembly, etc.]" section (  That section has a roller in it ( but the "author" is Arnie Deeds, not Bert Plank.There is DropBox at  ( but a search of the current list, as well as the 1997-2004 archives on "slip" & "roll" did not turn up a roller by Bert Plank.So Bert, could you be a *little* more specific about where your roller is posted?Thanks,Bob

Slip Roll - Aluminum?

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