Strip Roller - with Instructions & Parts List

Sooner or later we all get around to building a Strip and Plate Roller. Having already made several over the years, this last one was on a spur of the moment project as I came across a few hundred narrow strips with 1/4" hole spacing. I had thought that these were Erector or A.C.Gilbert strips but it turns out I have some not listed in their parts list. Most were pretty straight but some needed attention.

Rollers are pretty basic in design and require few parts to make something that does the job easily. Aside from the Eye Pieces everything used are common parts and won't be missed from your building set so you can keep this unit made up for occasional use.
To Download Parts List and their Use - Click Here
Overall view of the Strip Roller. Input is on the right. Note the wide tire which allows a firm grip and is easy on the fingers when rolling a large amount of strips.  Turn the wheel to the right while resting your left hand on the curved strip to guide the strip through the rollers. The crank handle on the bottom left is used to adjust the rollers. If the strips come out pointing downwards, you will have to turn the crank handle to the left to lower the rollers and feed the strip through the roller again. If upwards, turn the crank to the right.

NOTE: Of the different periods of manufacture not all strips are the same thickness. If you sort your strips by thickness first you will have less adjusting to do and the job will go much quicker.

I am most comfortable using this as set up but you may want to experiment on the layout depending if you are left or right handed, (crank handle and gear guard on left or right)
Here is a view of the back side of the unit.

The "A" frame consists of 8 x 2-1/2" Perforated Strips and 8 Curved Strips. The slide rails are 4-1/2" Perforated Strips mounted to a 1" x 1-1/2" Double Angle Bracket and a Corner Flange Bracket. All this is bolted to a 5-1/2" x 2-1/2" Flanged Plate which serves as the base.

The Formed Slotted Strip serves both as a guard for the gears and as a hand rest while feeding in the strips. Make use of the slotted Angle Bracket ends to adjust to suit.

The four Rubber Tires for the feet will protect your work surface and prevent the unit from sliding around. The tires are mounted on short pins and bolted to 1/2" x 1/2" angle brackets.

The Crank Handle was something found in a junk box but you can use a bushwheel with a short pin for a handle.
The three rollers are 3 hole couplings. Only one grub screw was used as I did not have any short grub screws on hand so the head protrudes a bit. Guide the strip away from the screw.

The other two rollers do not have any screws as the pressure from the strip and the two other pinions keep everything moving along nicely.

Here you can also see the Wheel Hub mounted to a 6 hole Bushwheel.
These are the three 19 tooth pinions. I used triangular rods here to get a better grip with the grub screws in the pinions. This prevents slipping but can wear out the perforated strip holes a bit faster. But we all have lots of extra 2-1/2" perforated strips and are easy to change.

The Gear Guard has a 1-1/2" Perforated Strip attached to the 2 x 1/2" x 1" Angle Brackets. Note the the center hole bolt is a regular length bolt and does not go into the frame. The other two use 147d Pivot Bolts. The assembly is spaced from the frame by two small Plastic Spacers.
The Crank Handle shown came from my junk box but a 1" pulley or a p/n 518 Bushwheel with a p/n 115 pin can be used instead.

The 1" D.A.Bracket is inserted between the curved strips and held in place by p/n 147d Pivot Bolts with Jamb Nuts.
The business end of the screw rod is shown here. No nuts are needed on the end of the rod as the slide pieces will hit the rail bracket preventing the rod from dropping out of the coupling. The slide pieces are boss less.

Note the washers used a spacers on the ends of the Curved Strips.

That pretty well sums it up.

Enjoy

Jim  Picton