A while back, I picked up a bead roller from Harbor Freight. I got it specifically to cut metal, and had no plans to do any beading, as I couldn't think of any use for it, other than to put dents into metal. Since most of my sheet metal working involved making 4" metal people, all I really needed was a simple way to cut 1" strips for the figurine bodies.

Recently, I started doing some bodywork on my Datsun 510, and because I was cutting and welding in new patch panels, I've learned how useful a bead roller can be. With the dies that came with the bead roller, plus the use of some small shims to put the dies where I want them, I've figured out how to replicate the bigger line on the panels.







These are my test runs. I need some more practice keeping a straight line, and I should probably modify the bead roller to keep the rollers from shifting laterally, but I'm pretty excited about being able to reproduce the panels on every area of my car.