wanted: Aluminum Fascia Roller - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

jcalvin · 02-03-2009, 05:02 PM

I have been trying something new to me with my aluminum fascia. I have seen guys that have rollers and put some beads on their fascia that not only adds a little but of design but keeps it from waving at you as you drive by. My dad has a bead roller he uses for floorpans in his hotrods that I tried, but it didn't work. What do you use? There is only one guy that I know of that has one and it is so old we can't read any names on it. Our supply house is worthless and still swears to me that there is no such thing as a paslode cordless staple gun.

Patrick · 02-03-2009, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcalvin

I have been trying something new to me with my aluminum fascia. I have seen guys that have rollers and put some beads on their fascia that not only adds a little but of design but keeps it from waving at you as you drive by. My dad has a bead roller he uses for floorpans in his hotrods that I tried, but it didn't work. What do you use? There is only one guy that I know of that has one and it is so old we can't read any names on it. Our supply house is worthless and still swears to me that there is no such thing as a paslode cordless staple gun.

Tapco and Vanmark each have their own version

WarnerConstInc. · 02-03-2009, 09:36 PM

Yes, I have a tapco. I can also make brick mold profiles.

I usually buy pre-bent fascia though.

**Cole** · 02-03-2009, 09:38 PM

I have a tapco as well, its paid for itself.

rayh78 · 02-03-2009, 10:04 PM

Tapco calls it a Brake Buddy
just do a goggle

jcalvin · 02-04-2009, 09:01 AM

Its a little hard to find something when you have no clue of what to call it. After checking the tapco website, thanks to you, I have just put $1200 on my wishlist. I had no idea that I was so in the stoneages with my brake. How nice it would be not to have to nail a broomhandle on two sawhorses for a coil roller and the cut off tool would beat the runaway utility knife. It would be nice, but my brake has worked this long.

What do you use your brake buddy for? I was looking at it to rib the fascia to help eliminate the waves. It seems that no matter how I put it up it ALWAYS ends up waving. I know there is numerous things that is possible with it, but what is realistic.

IHI · 02-04-2009, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcalvin

What do you use your brake buddy for? I was looking at it to rib the fascia to help eliminate the waves. It seems that no matter how I put it up it ALWAYS ends up waving. I know there is numerous things that is possible with it, but what is realistic.

I had one but sold it, the brick mold profile was a joke, better than a standard straight profile, but i could put the metal in the break and bend the brickmold profile faster than it took to monkey around with the brake buddy and have it looking nice too with the manual bends. I used the two dies to put ribs in the larger fascia's but anymore i just buy prebent, it's heavier guaged metal and already has the ribbing in it for stiffness...a little more initally, but all the time saved by not standing in front of the brake bending a lighter guage material-priceless.

Why is it wavey, lots of reasons:
first, most coil stock is pretty light weight ga. in the first place

second you put light ga metal on an area that is subject to sun and shade it will expand and contract naturally, but since you have the fascia nailed up one part of the fascia is not allowed to expand and contract, so the part not nailed will and will buckle/wave since the other part cant move.

third- unless the substrate your covering is 100% perfectly flat, perfectly true, going back to reason #1, the light ga metal will want to conform to any inconsistencies of the material it's covering, and it does'nt take much bow/buckle of the wood your covering to make this light ga aluminum buckle.

All of these reasons and the time savings are why i just spec out pre bent whenever possible, all prices are built into the jobs anyhow so i could give a rats azz what it costs, that's on the homie.

Have fun with the brake buddy, our local supplier sold a boat load of them when Tapco sent it's first shipment and within a month the bulletin board was littered with them for sale...neat gimic, but jsut one of those tools that really does'nt work out as initally planned for 90% of the folks who do this sort of thing day in and day out...they're so used to doing things their way, it's impossible to change them, and many, like me, are still faster manually bending vs setting up and running the break buddy down the piece...i really had hgh hopes for the brickmold die, but it was laughable at best

tomstruble · 02-04-2009, 09:34 AM

not a big fan of those ribs in the fascia better to break up large rake fascia with a 1x2 Brickmould detail is nice when you need it tho

jcalvin · 02-04-2009, 09:45 AM

most of the fascia I put up is just 6". I know the reason for the waving is primarily due to the heat/cold. Obviously the more bends you can put in the fascia, the more rigid it will be. Did the roller not help any with the waving? If it doesn't, it isn't worth me buying.

IHI · 02-04-2009, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcalvin

most of the fascia I put up is just 6". I know the reason for the waving is primarily due to the heat/cold. Obviously the more bends you can put in the fascia, the more rigid it will be. Did the roller not help any with the waving? If it doesn't, it isn't worth me buying.

Depends on which die you used, the bead or the big flat one, and then naturally overall heigth plays into it to since if you have a 8" fascia one single bead is'nt gonna do a thing

jcalvin · 02-04-2009, 11:52 AM

For around $1100, I can outfit my rig with the cut-off tool, the roller, and the sidewinder. Currently I have a simple brake. Everything I do is manual with a framing square, utility knife, and snips. I would LOVE to have all this, but I am wondering how much time and aggrivation is this going to save me. I am a little reserved about spending this money since I am fairly decent with my set up after using it for the last 8+ years.

tomstruble · 02-04-2009, 12:00 PM

how old is your brake? the cutoff dosent work with the older pro without an adapter a buddy of mine has everything you mentioned all i have is the brake.Do you have the snap stand?I would recomend that first jmo
i do have and use the max cutoff on my max brake tho hard to cut steel sheet without it

IHI · 02-04-2009, 12:37 PM

All those bells and whistles sure look cool, and i agree that is this is 100% of your gig and your on site for months doing the same stuff over and over it'd be worth it, but for us we're in and out of jobs so quickly, for the most part, i have no desire/need for all the fancy stuff as it'd take years to pay for itself if ever.

My grandfather had the Tapco stand with wheels, i helped him out a few times and once it's set up it's fine, no different than saw horses, but when he retired he was going to give it to me and i just smiled and said sell it cuz i dont want it....saw horses take up alot less room in transport and storage.

jcalvin · 02-04-2009, 02:18 PM

My rig is old, around 20yrs old if I had to guess. It is the Tapco Pro II. They don't even list it on the discontinues models on their website. My Dad traded a boat for it sometime in the early 90's and I took it over around 2000. I called Tapco and they told me that all I needed was the anvil that is around $200 to allow everything to mount to it. If anyone has these attachments that they have got tired of, let me know. That might help me make up my mind on buying it or not.

tomstruble · 02-04-2009, 02:48 PM

oh yea your that guy who dosent belive in stands i remember how ya been doin?

thesidingpro · 02-04-2009, 02:57 PM

I don't believe in anything besides a brake.

I use a framing square and a utility knife.

I'll bet the farm that i'm one of the fastest here and offer one of the best looking trim jobs. The cut off and buddy are both useless imo. Over complicating something that's very simple.

I use two sawhorses and a table made out of 2x6's. End of the day I just toss the break into the bed of my truck and go home. Next morning all I do is clamp the brake down and i'm in busines.

My stand costs me $40 and I leave it on site every night.

jcalvin · 02-04-2009, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomstruble

oh yea your that guy who dosent belive in stands i remember how ya been doin?

Actually, I do have the stands with mine. Only because they guy that bought it originally threw them in. Just because my brake is held together with visegrips, duct tape, and sheet metal screws doesn't mean that I can't put hammer tracks all over the aluminum fascia too.

tomstruble · 02-04-2009, 03:16 PM

Patrick · 02-04-2009, 05:11 PM

[quote=thesidingpro;598245]I don't believe in anything besides a brake.

I use a framing square and a utility knife.

I'll bet the farm that i'm one of the fastest here and offer one of the best looking trim jobs. The cut off and buddy are both useless imo. Over complicating something that's very simple.
/QUOTE]

You name the time and place, and Ill be there for the trim off

Seriously though, I have a sidewinder, a pro cut off, and a brake buddy, and they all sit in the trailer. We used the brake buddy for a while, but I can bend faster and neater without it, and it looks a lot better. Also, pain in the ass if you gotta go fix something cause you have to A remember to bring it, and B figure out what number the dial was set to.

I also prefer my layout table I built to the coiler, NOT TO MENTION how F"n annoying it would be when the coil would roll out on its own towards the brake, and you would go to make a bend and realize the coil had creaped out and you just tore up part of the new coil. Its also a bitch if you do jobs with more than one color coil going on. Also stupid that the cutter cuts 1-1/2" off the brake jaw, so you either have to measure, or use the stupid gauges, and after doing without for so many years its very difficult to switch habits.

WarnerConstInc. · 02-04-2009, 06:42 PM

Patrick- I am completely opposite of you. I love the stand with wheels, it takes up some room but that is why I have a trailer.

I like the sidewinder, and once I got use to the cut-off I love it.

I guess since I got the set-up this way from the get go I am used to it.

I will agree that I dont use the dies very often.

Actually I hardley use the brake but, sure is handy when you need it.

My brake sees more copper than anything else.