If you’ve ever wondered how metal roofing is made, you’re in the right place. Metal roofing is crafted using roll forming machines, which shape long strips of metal into the panels we see on houses and buildings.
The process starts with a roll of steel or aluminum, and the machine bends, cuts, and shapes it into a sturdy, durable panel. Using roll forming machines ensures that your metal roof is made with precision, making it highly efficient and consistent.
Understanding Roll Forming Machines
A roll forming machine takes flat metal sheets and shapes them into various profiles. You start with a metal coil, and as it rolls through the machine, it’s bent and molded into the desired shape by a series of rollers.
Types of Roll Forming Machines
There are a few types of roll forming machines commonly used in metal roofing:
- Stationary Roll Formers – These are perfect for factories where large quantities of roofing panels need to be produced.
- Portable Roll Formers – Ideal for on-site roofing jobs, these machines can be taken directly to the construction site.
Key Components of a Roll Forming Machine
- Uncoiler: Holds and unrolls the metal coil.
- Rollers: Gradually shape the metal sheet.
- Cutting Mechanism: Cuts the formed metal to the required length, using a flying cutoff system.
- Control System: Automates the process ensuring precision.
Metal Roofing Manufacturing Process
The following shows the process of making metal roofs using roll forming machines.
1 Metal coil is loaded with a forklift onto a coil cart.
2 The metal coil is loaded from the cart onto the decoiler arm. A full steel coil weighs about 10,000lbs!
3 The coil cart is moved out of the way and the decoiler arm is expanded to secure the coil.
4 The coil is loaded into the infeed.
5 Adjustments are made to the guides as the material is fed into the infeed.
6 A small piece is sheared and used to adjust the guides on the infeed table.
7 Panel lengths are programmed into the controller.
8 When the system is started the decoiler begins to automatically feed material into the infeed.
9 An encoder wheel tracks the material length and shears it at the exact programmed length.
10 The material travels across the infeed table and into the rollformer.
11 As the material passes through several sets of dies it is formed into it’s final shape.
Conclusion
Using a roll-forming machine for creating metal roofing has some major benefits. It speeds up the process and ensures each panel is uniform and precise.
