Hi from the open road

[Pixelhead]

Thanks for looking into this further. I had largely run into a roadblock in the past when I tried to find companies who could do this since I didn't know exactly what to ask for.

I've contacted a supplier of coil stainless to see if they could think of a shop that might already have 16" coil and would have a roll-former. I heaven't heard back yet, but thought that might be a good way to find someone who has experience working stainless with a roll-former.

I know there are a lot of bus nuts who would like to have a source for this, but they are often doing their bus restorations at minimal cost, so I'm not sure how many would actually drop the $$ to get it maid. I'm willing to spend extra $$ to get exactly what I want. It's not that I have a bunch of bucks, it's just that I'm rather particular and want things done right.

Please send me a private message if any of you think this is something you could tackle (or know of a good shop that can). My timeframe is to get the accent stainless reproduced within the next 6-8 months.

[Pixelhead]

Bob,

On your clipper, do you know if the stainless is broken up into sections other than breaking where the entry door, emergency door and other essential breaks happen?

[Joe Hartson]

Front with two flutes brushed


Back side

[bobadame]

Originally Posted by Pixelhead

Bob,

On your clipper, do you know if the stainless is broken up into sections other than breaking where the entry door, emergency door and other essential breaks happen?

I think the edges overlap. I'll take a look at it tonight.
There are some photos posted on the flxowners yahoo site. I believe the pieces are made by someone named George Fields. His screen name is trackmaster fab. They won't interchange with the original siding. He suggests removing and replacing the original trim.

[Pixelhead]

Hi,

It's been over a year since I looked into having stainless panels fabricated. In the meantime, my bus has been repowered with modern 350HP Cummins ISC turbo diesel and Allison six speed automatic. The bus has also been taken on multiple test drives to total over 4000 miles!

The bus is now located near Eugene, OR, which is where the interior will be produced. That process should take about 1.5 years and then it should be ready to live in.

Since I last posted here, I attempted to find a place that had a roll-former, but have been unable to find anyone with interest in a job like mine.

If these panels were to be made in six foot lengths, would anyone here who has a pullmax think they could successfully produce what I'm looking for while keeping it nice and straight? Assume that 22 or 24 gauge stainless would be used.

Sorry for adding to such an old post. I just thought it would be best to continue this one since it has all the background information in the previous entries.

Thanks!

-Ben

[thingsthatfly2]

great read! cool project!

[bobadame]

It's good to see your project moving forward.

I'm thinking that a horizontal milling machine could do this with some simple tooling. There would be a urethane drive roller mounted in the spindle. A round tipping tool would be mounted to the bed. A long fence would also be mounted to the bed. The table is held still and the urethane roller drives the blank over the tipping wheel. The mill bed is covered with mdf to provide a sliding surface at the height required to air bend the shape of each flute.Then the fence is moved 2.6" and the next flute is rolled.

So the mill becomes a big sturdy bead roller. I'll find some time this week to try this.

[Pixelhead]

Thanks Bob... let me know how things work out.

[bobadame]

I've have decided that there is probably a better way to do this. Instead of driving the metal through forming rollers by friction, I think it would be better to pull it through the rollers with a winch. This intuitively seems to be a more stable process. This is going to require a purpose built machine. I have most of the components to build the machine and my goal is to have something functional by spring. I'll start on the machine around the end of this year. Also there will need to be tooling to form the ends of the siding. This will require 3 additional tools. The front ends are mirror images with about a 100 degree angle. The shape at the rear is 90 degrees.

[Kerry Pinkerton]

Ben, I just received a new issue of the Family Motor Coach Assn magazine and enjoyed the story of your bus renovation and travels. Interesting lifestyle you have chosen.