“Roller” Smoothes Out Jagged Barrel Rims

“Roller” Smoothes Out Jagged Barrel Rims MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous Barrel rims are smooth when Steve Morin finishes processing them with his barrel rim roller Cutting a top off a steel barrel can leave rough and even jagged edges The hand-crank roller rides the rim and leaves a smooth edge behind “We open about 15 barrels a month with a device like a giant P-38 and it leaves a jagged edge on the rim ” says Morin “The guys in the shop don’t like wearing gloves just to roll barrels around so I needed a way to smooth out the rim I could have pounded on the rims with a hammer for 15 min but I came up with my roller instead ” The roller consists of a 1-in sq steel tube with 2 steel rollers One mounts on a shaft with a Thomson bearing The shaft extends through the steel tube to a hand crank A second roller just above the first is mounted on a bearing through a slot in the side of the steel tube Inside the tube it is fastened to a steel block at the end of a threaded rod The rod extends through another threaded steel block welded to the end of the tube and is topped by a knob “I added a short length of 3/4-in pipe to the other end of the tube to give me more leverage ” says Morin “I can hold it in one hand while turning the crank with the other ” Turning the threaded rod lets Morin adjust the space between the 2 rollers to fit them over the rim and make an initial pass “I knurled the roller on the crank to give it some grip ” says Morin “When I get to a seam in the barrel the threaded rod lets me back off on the pressure to go over it I can go around the rim once tighten it down and make a second or third pass to leave a smooth rim ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Steven Morin 448 Belanger Rd Caribou Maine 04236 ph 207 227-5836; smorinmay10@gmail com

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