I came into some unexpected cash and decided to buy some new toys. A fellow I've known for many years stopped by to discuss an engine he was wanting to build. He spied the 383 that I had that was ready to be assembled and asked if I would sell it. I didn't really have a need for it and gave him a price which he jumped on. I probably could have asked more., but gave him a fair deal.

I've been wanting some equipment for sheet metal fab and used my newfound cash to buy some. I got this brake from Woodward Fab. It's rated for 48" of 16 gauge. That is definitely pushing it, but it will bend it. I added the wheels and jack bolts.



I picked up a Harbor Freight bead roller and made a few modifications to it. Most people do. I studied a bunch of internet stuff about bead rollers and finally settled on the mods a fellow named Jere Kirkpatrick made on a bead roller for Gene Winfield. Yea, that Gene Winfield. I figured he knew a lot more about this that I did, which is pretty much nothing. Here's the story:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra2-A-IuT-Q

I used my own version of pretty much all of the working mods he made, but used my own power system. I have an old pattern torch that used a DC gear motor. I had a spare motor and borrowed the power supply since I don't use the torch very often.



The base for the power supply was the first thing I made with the brake.

I've been playing around with the bead roller, but it's not quite as easy as the YouTube videos make it look.. I'm making progress though.

I also picked up a shrinker/stretcher setup from HF, but haven't used them yet.

I would like to show some pictures of the awesome artsy parts I've made, but most of it is pretty industrial looking. I'll be posting some stuff I built for the Spyder in that thread.