I tried annealing the original piece and that helped a little. I did a little tune up on the Shrinker dies. Here is a new attempt. Still using scrap metal:
I got better curvature this time. It wasn't as difficult. I just wanted a few youtube videos by LAzze and that got me going.
I tried to figure out a way to make the U Channel then shrink but that was impossible. I then bent an "S" shape and shrunk accordingly. I struggled with that quite a bit. I Might be able to make that work with a combination of Shrinking and Stretching but gave up.
Here is what i am thinking of trying. Shrink one piece to the desired curvature. Then weld a second piece to complete the U Shape
End up with something like this:
No one will really see this piece so if it doesn't look great, i can live with that. I think...
What do you guys think? I don't have a bead roller right now. I've been considering it, but don't have alot of need for it nor the garage space.