rotay machine or a bead roller?
 

Hi all, new guy here with a newbie question, if you had to choose one or the other which one would you choose, a bead roller or a rotary machine?
I passed a chance to get one(rotary machine) on sale but thought the shallow throat may be an issue in the future although I don't plan on working on big car panels or anything but somehow thought a bead roller might be more versatile.

Do you own both? or settled for one of the two? I personally would use one for stiffening a sheet of thin copper or Aluminum, roll edges, that's a bout the extend of my use.

Hm, I'm no expert but I've seen American "bead rollers" and English "Jennies" and "rotary machines" interchangeably used in shops for decades.

Sometimes the dies even interchange.:):)

What'll it be, a "Wing" or a "fender?"
Body solder or lead work?

I own a rotary, but would imagine that a bead roller would probably cover most eventualities.

Thanks for the replies so far.
I thought the dies for a rotary machine were different than a bead roller.

Most of what I think of as Rotary Machines, or Jennys are rather shallow throat. Today, most BEAD ROLLERS have at least a 18" throat.

A sheet metal shop I worked for in my late teens had a whole row of Jennys lined up on a both sides of a narrow bench. Must have been a dozen with various dies.

As Kent said, they do the exact same thing and the names are often used interchangeably.

Thanks Kerry, it all makes sense now, the bead roller I'm looking at and most likely get is an 18" HF type that our Princess Auto sells (Canadian Harbor freight) , it will need some re-enforcing to stiffen it up a bit but I'll see if I could get by without welding anything to it .
Thank you all for your comments/thoughts.
Ken.