Sometimes there’s products that we offer that are so simple we often get questioned “Does that really work?”. One of these is the rubber band for the upper wheel on our Benchtop English Wheel. It seems so simple, how could it really do anything? We decided to go over how and where this may help you in your future metal shaping projects.
The idea behind a rubber upper wheel or in this case a rubber band is that it allows you to form metal rather than stretch it. With a both a metal upper wheel and a metal lower anvil contacting the wheel the metal is stretched or moved in radial pattern or 360 degrees. This stretching will move the metal mostly over the shape of the lower anvil but it can also curve the panel front to back a little because the metal is being stretched in all directions.
So why would a rubber band be helpful? Well if you want to create a shape only curving the panel side to side over the lower anvil you need a way to stop the panel from being curved slightly front to back. The upper rubber band on the wheel will deaden the curve front to back and allow you use your English Wheel like a radius brake or a slip roll. This is great for panels with a light curve to them or something like a driveshaft tunnel where you want a radius in the metal but want the panel flat front to back.
So step up your game and add a rubber band to your English Wheel Accessories! See all of our Metal Fabrication tools HERE.