What's the Difference Between a Roll Former & a Roll Bender?

When searching for "What's the Difference Between a Roll Former & a Roll Bender?" you will find that these two metal fabrication processes are distinct yet often confused. Roll forming and roll bending are critical for producing different shapes from metal, but they are utilized for opposing applications.

Understanding Roll Forming

Roll forming is a process that involves taking a coiled strip of sheet metal and turning it into a specified shape by pushing it through a sequence of matched dies.

This method is a cost-effective way to manufacture long, intricate metal profiles featuring multiple bends or punch designs. It's commonly used for mass production projects such as:

• Solar panel frameworks
• Bus bars and wire raceways
• Components for elevators and escalators
• Support structures for shelving

Roll formed products can be seen frequently; for instance, highway guide rails are typically made using this technique.

What is Roll Bending?

On the other hand, roll bending takes larger sheets of metal and curves them into various forms, including:

• Half-shells
• Cones
• Rings
• Transitions

In roll bending, flat metal sheets are fed through rollers designed to bend the metal to a specified radius.

Different types of roll bending machines include:

• Slip sheet metal roll bender (cylinder): This machine features specially arranged rollers to assist in creating bends, cylinders, and cones from sheet metal.
• Roll bending machine (arc): A mechanical machine equipped with custom rollers positioned to shape metal bars and various other forms into circular arcs.

Roll bending is prevalent in producing numerous common items such as:

• Wind towers
• Pressure vessels and heat exchangers
• Storage tanks and silos
• Pipes for water, oil, and gas

Daily, we encounter products made through roll bending. For example, the casing of an aircraft engine is manufactured using this technique.

Distinct Metal Forming Processes for Varied Applications

By now, it should be clear that roll forming and roll bending serve different purposes in metal fabrication. To summarize:

• Roll forming is best for creating long, linear components with consistent profiles.
• Roll bending excels at producing large, rounded shapes like cylinders, cones, and rings.

At Dahlstrom Roll Form, we are proud to specialize in roll forming rather than roll bending.

Discover Roll Forming Design Practices

Interested in learning the best design strategies for roll forming? Download our complimentary e-book, How to Design a Great Roll Formed Part. It serves as a fantastic introductory guide for anyone seeking insight into this manufacturing process.