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That $60 bead roller I laughed at actually saved my weekend project
Picked up a cheap bead roller from Harbor Freight on a whim after watching a 3 minute YouTube video, figured it would break on the first pass. It did 14 feet of 18 gauge steel without a hiccup and the lines are actually clean. Anyone else had luck with a budget tool that surprised you?
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grant.sam16d ago
You ever wonder if the Harbor Freight stuff is decent because they're copying proven designs that are already simple enough to not mess up? The bead roller seems like one of those things where the cheap version works fine as long as the bearings roll straight.
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lilyg8315d ago
Oh man you hit the nail on the head with that. I picked up their bead roller last year on a whim and honestly it surprised me. The bearings were actually straight out of the box, no wobble or anything like that. Ive used it for a few small projects making some simple panels for a buddies hot rod and it held up fine. Yeah the frame flexes a tiny bit if you really put pressure on it, but for light gauge stuff its totally serviceable. I think people way overthink these tools sometimes, if the basic geometry is right itll get the job done.
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