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Old 10-23-2014, 04:38 PM
preston preston is offline
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Default Basic e-wheeling technique question

I've had some success with the wheel, although I find its working better for me to rough stuff in with the shot bag and just smooth it but my question is -

when I see people wheeling, the panel is rolling back and forth back and forth, and they are overlapping passes moving across the panel. I've watched them carefully and can barely detect any movement sideways or other wise when they get to the end.

when i roll the panel and get near the end, if I roll it back there is no overlap IOW I would just be rolling back over teh same track as before, so I angle the panel a little bit and start rolling the wheel and then straighten back out to follow the next "track' I want across teh metal. IOW I have to steer the panel to get the wheel to the next 'track", and when I do this it is a pretty exaggerated movement. when I watch the pros its almost like they just slide it a little bit ? But that doesn't seem to work for me even with low tension.

Do I just need to learn to do this more subtly somehow ? A lot of times I steer it on to the next overlapping track but as you know you are steering the panel "backwards" and sometimes I get way off my track trying to roll the dang thing in straight lines while I'm also steering it.

So getting too wordy here, but basically I'm jsut asking what the technique is when you get to the end of the panel and want to come back on a slightly overlapping track. Sounds dumb but that's why I put it in the "basic" section !
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Old 10-23-2014, 04:48 PM
David Gardiner David Gardiner is offline
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My guess would be that you are moving too slow. I find it harder to control the panel if I move slowly.

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Old 10-23-2014, 07:19 PM
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nonhog nonhog is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David Gardiner View Post
My guess would be that you are moving too slow. I find it harder to control the panel if I move slowly.

David
Not my thread, but I think I get it. Might try speeding it up with my cruddy little Grizzly wheel. Have the same issue but so new at it I hadn't looked into it. Thanks preston and David!
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Old 10-23-2014, 07:21 PM
Mike Motage Mike Motage is offline
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Preston, check to see if your upper wheel and lower anvil are rolling parallel. Use a straight edge on both simultaneously and site down edges. My wheeling machine was off when I first got it I had trouble also.

Follow Davids advice though.
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Old 10-23-2014, 08:17 PM
TheRodDoc TheRodDoc is offline
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One pass over an area has really been rolled twice if done right.

Starting at Top right side of drawing roll to end of area at bottom of drawing. Then you roll back from the stopping point ending back at the top right next to the starting point. All passes will be a straight line in most cases. you only turn the sheet very slightly at the end of each pass then head straight for the edge of roller mark at the start of previous pass.

tracking2.jpg
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Old 10-23-2014, 08:33 PM
weldtoride weldtoride is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by preston View Post
........... I've watched them carefully and can barely detect any movement sideways or other wise when they get to the end.

when i roll the panel and get near the end, if I roll it back there is no overlap IOW I would just be rolling back over the same track as before, so I angle the panel a little bit and start rolling the wheel and then straighten back out to follow the next "track' I want across the metal. IOW I have to steer the panel to get the wheel to the next 'track", and when I do this it is a pretty exaggerated movement. when I watch the pros its almost like they just slide it a little bit ? But that doesn't seem to work for me even with low tension.

Do I just need to learn to do this more subtly somehow ? .......

Just learning myself, Preston. That's probably both good and bad for your question.

Here's my 2 cents as someone who is also trying to figure it out:

I think a lot of the answer to your question has to do with the fore and aft length of the panel you are trying to wheel. If you are looking for a close tracking pattern of tracks 3/8" apart on a small practice piece, say 12-14" square, then the "steering" movement will be more pronounced at the ends of the track than if you are trying to wheel a 30" long panel, where the steering movement will be more subtle because of the length of the track.

I got John Glover's self-published book and that helped me greatly with diagrams and prescribed practice pieces, and gave me a good understanding of how he, for one, moves metal with a wheel.

Preston, after typing, I realize the only advice I have given above that can stand up to scrutiny is to get John Glover's book.
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Old 10-23-2014, 09:03 PM
TheRodDoc TheRodDoc is offline
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The best I can tell from your description that your doing is this:
tracking4.jpg

Moving over quickly like this to track along the edge of last pass will cause your sheet to have a high area where you have rolled back the short distance to move over. There will be a double pass there but only a single from there on. Also you will have waves in sheet from over lapping slightly for the rest of the pass. In other words you end up with thin strips across sheet that were rolled twice but most of the area only rolled once.
The tracking I showed in my last post is the proper way to wheel.
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Old 10-23-2014, 10:55 PM
Peter Tommasini Peter Tommasini is offline
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As David mention move a little quicker and move the panel on the right direction very quick, it will take a bit of practice but you will get it
Peter
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Old 10-24-2014, 11:04 AM
preston preston is offline
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Thanks for the tips

>Also you will have waves in sheet from over lapping slightly for the rest of the pass. In other words you end up with thin strips across sheet that were rolled twice but most of the area only rolled once.

Wow - that's exactly what happens a lot of times.
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Old 10-24-2014, 02:12 PM
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Richard K Richard K is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by preston View Post
Thanks for the tips

>Also you will have waves in sheet from over lapping slightly for the rest of the pass. In other words you end up with thin strips across sheet that were rolled twice but most of the area only rolled once.

Wow - that's exactly what happens a lot of times.
Don't overthink the wheeling process. You'll be a lot better off after a lot of practice. Trying to think about which areas have been hit once, one and a half or twice is basically not going to get you anywhere but confused.

Use a wheeling pattern like RodDoc suggests; after a couple of hours it will be second nature. Then just focus on the end result. Soon enough the steps will flow into one another and it will be easy. Just observe what the results are.

Compare it to riding a bicycle; if you thought about all the facets (balance, pedal down, pedal up, steering, looking side to side, swaying your upper body, watching for surface objects, and breathing ) you would crash every few minutes.

Best of luck.
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