Greetings from North Central Florida...

Why am I here? The short story...

In the past 10 days, I've had a metal roof installed over my 16 year
old shingles on a 16 year old house.

I was onsite the entire time, and made friends with the foreman and
crew, and had the chance to watch the assembly details up close,
without bothering them. As a 'Burned Out Software Engineer' and
doer-of-all-things on my 9 acre 'estate', I was very curious
about these details.

The panels were 'rolled' on site, meaning rolls of metal were shaped
(by a machine) into the 'standing seam' form, cut to varying lengths,
then stacked on the ground. (26 gauge Galvalume)

The ground support guy would pick a panel of the correct length,
and do some corner cutting, then BEND the end of the panel so
it would slip under a roof trim piece at the gutter edge.
This method is not used for all metal roofs, but it was VERY labor
intensive and necessary for each panel of this roof design.
(Hidden fasteners/standing seam).

The bending part was BRUTAL to watch. They had a metal form that
slipped over the end of the panel used to bend several inches into
about a 90 degree. THEN, the guy would balance that edge on a
saw horse and POUND it with a rubber mallet to get it to bend into
180 degrees. Often the edge would fall off the saw horse, he would
have to pick it up, and repeat the effort, pounding away.

Needless to say, that bent part was often dimpled, and after a
couple of hours of this, the worker's arm was aching, and someone
else would take over.

I AM HERE because I talked to the owner of the company, and he
is VERY interested in finding a better way to do this ONSITE.

The device I am seeking would be man powered, safe, simple,
rugged and reliable. I'm not interested in a patent nor
selling it, I just want to make their life easier.

Its too late for my roof, but maybe the next guy could benefit.

I suspect this request is sophomoric for the professionals on the
website, so thanks for reading my 'short' story.

Many thanks in advance,
Mr. Brown
Central Florida

Hey Folks,

Thanks for all the great ideas.

I solved this ridiculous problem with a door hinge,
and 2 short pieces of 2x4 wood (18") .
Its been delivered to the roofer, and I'm looking
forward to some hands on feedback...
from him...
not this forum...

Best to all.