Hello Rail fans.
The latest issue of Garden Railways magazine has a piece about building a jig to bend soda can aluminum to make a panel for a standing seam roof. I thought this was pretty neat so I built the jig and tried it out and hmmmm , not as good as the end results in the article.
Has anyone else had a chance to build one of these or something like it and tinker around with it?
I’m going to give it another go and probably tweek it a bit.
Todd
Todd I believe you will find this discussion of earlier today illuminating.
http://www.mylargescale.com/Community/Forums/tabid/56/aff/8/aft/127575/afv/topic/Default.aspx
Thanks for the link John. I like that guys idea better because it uses a much wider piece to make the corrugated ridge part which lends itself to more options like the container he pictured. I think the one in GR is more to scale for a roofing project though.
I went back to mine to tweek and used a hand saw to make the top mating piece channels a bit wider then I removed the shims from the bottom part and walaa it works. Now I need to find a source for the aluminum. Cutting up all those cans is a real pain.
He’s pretty clever. On that same forum under tools you’ll see a bench brake he made from cheap and free material. He would have bought the 3’ steel “L” section, and he probably used recycled hinges. He also has a thread under buildings on some corrugated silos he made as well. He used a corrugator for the walls and a clever homemade jig for the roof…
Todd Haskins said:
Hello Rail fans.
The latest issue of Garden Railways magazine has a piece about building a jig to bend soda can aluminum to make a panel for a standing seam roof. I thought this was pretty neat so I built the jig and tried it out and hmmmm , not as good as the end results in the article.
Has anyone else had a chance to build one of these or something like it and tinker around with it?
I’m going to give it another go and probably tweek it a bit.
Todd
I just got back from town, stopped at our very well assorted hardware store where I bought a spline tool. Usually used to repair screens (doors and windows), mine will be used for deep-drawing the alu cookie pans into standing seam roofing.
BTW prior to the HWS I was at the mag place and picked up my bi-annual GR. Bookland is another gem here in town, they carry all kinds of reading material that the BIG guys don’t carry. And they have a bonus program, too. No member fee or such, just supply your phone number and it keeps adding everytime you shop.
Hans that sounds interesting, so you are using aluminum cookie or cooking pans? Lets hear more about your process please. Any photos?
Todd,
I’ll be doing the first test pieces tomorrow, report to follow.
There are days when “tomorrow” happens much later.
Anyway, I laser-engraved the grooves in some ply, using the spline tool (used for repairing screens) I “embossed” the seams. Works as intended, but since the tool has a rad the seams are not quite as narrow and also rounded on top. Which is a good things since the alu isn’t that strong, but I’m heading back to the shop with one of our pizza cutters and try that. 
Hmmm… I have a spline tool in my tool box, and lots of light aluminum sheet I got years ago from Yogi. I think the birdhouse might get a standing seam rather than rolled roofing. But what color to use on a red w/white building… Decisions decisions.
Since the metal roofing comes in both those colors and maybe 10 or so others, do blue.
Nice job Hans. Your approach looks a lot simpler than the one in GR mag.
Jon use blue you will have a patriotic bird house.
I’m thinking bronze might look nice. Don’t want to scare the neighbors with the first building I put out :]
I STILL have not found a copy of the latest Garden Railways… but that being said, right before this issue came out, I made a die to press roofing off some ideas I got off Yogi’s Site using Diet Pepsi cans…
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/bart_salmons/_forumfiles/roofingjig03.jpg)
The upper piece is raw material straight from the die, the bottom is after a trim…this is meant to resemble the raised seam roofing that is all over the place on old buildings down here in coal country, not the newer colored stuff getting put on new construction…
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/bart_salmons/_forumfiles/roofingjig01.jpg)
The die is simple…slots cut into a piece pf birch plywood , and another piece of birch plywood with sections of survey flag glue to it to correspond to the grooves, and an edge flange to line them up…
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/bart_salmons/_forumfiles/roofingjig02.jpg)
I just put in a piece of soda can, set the die in a big vice and give it a squeeze… and there ya go…
Hi Bart, your die is very similar to the one I built from plans in GR. I finally did get it to work and it will produce panels like yours but it sure is time consuming. I wouldn’t want to have to roof a large building.
cutting up all those cans is a pain. How did you trim after the bending without crushing the seams? I got to trimming before bending by using a block of wood over the rough cut aluminum and a sharp utility knife.
I think Hans’ idea is a better one since it nets a larger piece which means less seams for water to get in under it.
Hans, Bart: you guys are clever too! I like the big sheets that Hans is getting from cookie pans. I bet the pizza cutter was a flop though, unless you like your roofing in ribbons! How did it work, really?
I have a corrugator from Michael’s that I use with popcan stuff sized ala Bart, to give me sheets of corrugated roofing. My pike is turn of century, I bet that’s long before standing seams. I should research - I suspect corrugated has been around since at least 1900; I could be wrong though…
Do you know anything about when these things were introduced?
According to what I found on the web, corrugated roofing was used in the 1840s. I don’t think many of us model before that time. 
And for standing seam roofing:
“Copper with standing seams covered some of the more notable early American roofs including that of Christ Church (1727-1744) in Philadelphia. Flat-seamed copper was used on many domes and cupolas.”
And…The method for corrugating iron was originally patented in England in 1829. Galvanizing with zinc to protect the base metal from rust was developed in France in 1837. By the 1850s the material was used on post offices and customhouses, as well as on train sheds and factories.
Tin-plate iron, commonly called “tin roofing,” was used extensively in Canada in the 18th century, but it was not as common in the United States until later.
Probably more than you ever wanted to know. But, if there is still something you’re curious about, this seems pretty informative: http://www.nps.gov/hps/tps/briefs/brief04.htm
You can get rolls of metal foil in craft stores, easier than cutting up cans.
But not as cheap…specially when someone drinks as much Pepsi as SWMBO does…
I cut the top and bottom off the cans with a bandsaw then split it up the side…I just use a straightedge with a No24 blade to trim it out…I do a half dozen or so panels a day…by the time I get round to building something I should have a nifty stockpile…its what I do while paint or glue is drying…
BTW there’s also a difference in hardness between cookie sheets from the different mfgs. Baker-King from Alcan is the most suitable for my application.
The pizza cutter works just fine, except it “wanders” so I’ll modify it with a minimal radius. As far as cutting to size goes, I figured that out and report will follow.
Since I’m doing multiples of these roofs getting it right counts. As usual, it’s all about the method behind the madness.
