With the little lathe, I made up a little mandrel to spin the roll forming rollers while
I ground the edges to a nice .093 fully radiused profile. Note the cardboard to prevent
abrasive grit from getting all over the ways of the lathe.
So, yeah...this grinding stone just isn't up to the task.
More power!!!
OK, after using the angle grinder to rough the shape, then a nice sharp file to finish
it up, followed by some scotchbrite to polish it up, the first roller washer was done.
All four done.
I had bought a couple 1 1/2" long spacer bushings (1/2" ID, 5/8" OD). I cut each into two
pieces of 3/4 and 5/8" length. Used the disc sander to get the ends nice and square.
Found a bit of oak flooring to make some side supports. Here's the little roll former
ready for a first attempt.
It was around 100 degrees out by this time, and I was ready to knock off for the day,
but I just had to try it out on a bit of scrap. The roll former was designed for .032
thick material, but I cut a bit of .025 and pulled it back and forth several times while
clamping the rollers closer together each time. Looks pretty good! There's a bit of
technique involved, and I think I need to add some side guides, but this looks like it's
going to work. I may actually be able to make the joggle strip from .025. I thought that
would be too thin and the springback too high to achieve the desired .080 offset, but
this test piece is very close. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.