In these modern times we have several options available to metal crafters. A wide variety of tools are available for almost every aspect of punching, riveting, bending, rolling, and producing decorative scrolling in metal.
Punch and Shears
This type of tool is available in both a Practical version and a Master version for business owners. These machines combine a hole punching facility with a guillotine for cutting mild steel strip, square hare and wire to length.
The Practical varieties can accommodate 20mm x 3mm flat strip, 5mm square bar and 5 mm round bar/wire for shearing. Punching can handle up to 3mm diameter hole in up to 3mm thick material.
Some of these machines are portable and are well suited to "on-site" work, and have an adjustable punch platform with four available cutting edges on a small shear blade.
The Master variety handles a more sophisticated work load.
Riveting/Bending/Rolling Tools
This type of tool can normally be found in an "all-in-one" capacity. By combining all three functions into one tool, it offers quite a bit of appeal to a crafter.
The riveting function eliminates a need for welding, making this a safe and easy way of joining metal strip and scroll work together, and it gives the finished job an authentic and traditional appearance.
The bending function of these tools allows you to bend all manner of components out of flat strip, square bar and round wire. This is essential in producing frameworks for decorative work.
Finally, the Rolling function enables crafters to create circles and arcs to be consistently rolled, all with no need to pre-heat any materials. You may also find some varieties equipped with end stop screw and nut fitted for producing consistent bends and circles/arc when rolling.
Scroll Formers
This wonderful tool can be used to create all the beauty of traditional scroll work! It can be found in several different sizes depending on the size of material they handle, as well as smaller hand-drawn versions. They are generally easy to use and can come equipped with a special starting lever to for initial part of scroll when using a heavier gauge material, and tube forming components.
Twisters
This type of tool adds a decorative twist to steel bar. These are very reliable in producing consistent results in square and flat metal bar because the metal is twisted without heating it before hand. It is common to purchase these tools with adaptors that can be used in place of the standard collar to allow rapid twisting, or basket making attachments which produce beautiful ornamental baskets that can easily be formed using pre-welding clusters of four 6mm or 8mm square bars. Typically, longer twists can be achieved with care by moving the twisted section through the machine and then twisting the next section.
You can generally purchase these tools individually. They can also be found in complete sets or packages, or tailored to your specific requirements and budget. Most tools can usually be found in both Practical and Master tool varieties. The Practical variety is more suited to crafters intending to produce smaller scale items involving small or intricate scrollwork. This does not mean that these tools cannot be used to make a larger scale project such as gates or furniture. The Master variety tools are more geared toward projects of larger size and/or volume. These tools allow a stronger material to be tackled more easily. These tools do tend to take up more room, but offer a greater versatility overall.
There are several options open to metal crafters today, and wide variety of products. This makes producing beautiful metal art projects easier and safer. Shopping around for tools may allow you to find exactly what you need and want to become an expert craftsman.