Making 10" rings?

[Dave M]

I need to make 4 - 10" diameter rings by 2" by 1/4" . I don't know if it would be easier to plasma cut them out of schd 40 pipe or form them out of flat stock? If I form them out of flat stock I don't have a ring roller, what would be the best way to form a perfect ring? I think I have been at the rest of this project to long and I am over thinking this part.

[MooseRidge]

Can't get up to the forge to check what size, but I have used steel weights (for a weightbench)... come in a variety of sizes and can be picked up CHEAP in many areas.... weld a couple of tabs on the top and a bar for the vise, heat and bend, then weld closed....

[Glenn]

You bending the metal the easy way or the hard way?

If you look at the end/edge of the finished ring, the easy way by bending the 1/4 inch thickness and the ring stands 2 inches tall (think pipe), or the hard way by bending the 2 inch thickness and the ring is only 1/4 inch tall (think big flat washer).

You say "perfect ring". That would suggest a large, properly aligned band saw and a piece of pipe.

Give us some details of the project and the use of the ring.

[Rich Hale]

I have done rings like this from flat stock like you have. stick it in a vise pointing up and star tthe bend I dont close the vise all the way.bend a bit and slide it down and bend some more. You do not have to make a nice circle, Just get the ends so they will butt together and you can weld them. I make them round while cool. The heel of my anvil has a bit of radius on both side. I place the ring across the heel and turn it until a part of the circle that is out of round by being higher than the rest is above the anvil. tap that with a smooth hammer. turn some more and find high spots and tap again. After you do the first one you will find this is not a tough task. Just remember to only hit the parts that come above the anvil asa high spots. Have fun

[Dodge]

As nothing can be truly perfect, the closest you will come is with a roller. However, as you don't have one, Rich's method is about as easy as it gets without building a special jig. Using a bending fork, you could do them cold from the start. You will get slight flat spots at the bends but these will come out when you hammer them round. I have made circles and half circles of several sizes up to 31" diameter using similar methods. You haven't told us what the rings' purpose is. How "perfect" do they need to be? Do they need to be visually perfect or do they need to have mechanical accuracy?

[Jose Gomez]

I don't know how precice your measurements need to be, but 10 inch schedual 40 pipe actually has an outside diameter of 10 3/4 inches and a wall thickness of near 3/8 inch (.365"). Schedual 20 10 inch pipe will have a 1/4 inch wall, but will still have an outside diameter of 10 3/4.

[Dodge]

There are tubing manufactures that make pipe (or tubing) that hold outside dimensions. The company I worked for makes pipe from 1.13" o.d. to 16" o.d. in thicknesses ranging from .049" to .31". They have 10" o.d. with .25" wall. Dunno if you want to go to the trouble of ordering but here is their site; Valmont Look under the "Tubing" link. Hope I get a kickback for the plug LOL

[philip in china]

I have done similar projects and simply got tube cut to size. If you cost your time in at anything more than minimum wage I can't see any other way of doing it!

[Fionnbharr (finn:-)]

IF you can find the tubing and have a bandsaw that cuts true, or a power hacksaw, then I would do it that way;-) having tried to free hand 12 diameter rings out of 1/4" by 2" I finally had to borrow a cone mandrel and it still wasn't easy... They may have been 3/8" thick??? I just remember it was hard to get an even heat on them, and they were slightly undersized and trying to get them so that a 12" pot would nestle down tight against the ring was a bother... They look great now, and I do get lots of compliments on them, but what is rotten is that they haven't sold yet:-P... Visually round is fairly easy with a good eye and some patients, but mechanically precise is a pain:-)

[arftist]

Find a welding or sheetmetal shop in your area. Pay them the ten or twenty dollars. If you want them to be "perfect", cut the flatbar 35 7/16", roll, trim off flats at each end, weld, re-roll.