Roll offsetting tool you ask? Made this after seeing what Wade and Tom use for late period rolls. The tool takes an edge that has been rolled over as a flat bend (usually over wire) and allows you to drive the material that is folded over flush with the underside of the rest of the piece of armour. This bumps the roll edge up so that it sticks up proud of the rest of the piece. Theirs are made of Lynch stake stock but I made mine out of a railroad reinforcing plate bolt that Gawin brought over.
Started out pretty rough. They had been lying about for some time before he found them. Sparked nicely though. Forged down (and up) the round head into a more flatish square.
The sharpy showns the area that will be removed. The wings on the side allow it to do curves.
Start of the cut. I may have used a 4.5" angle grinder to start but I often use rat tail rasps on metal. They are usually pretty hard and they cut quickly. I made sure that the piece was totally annealed before starting the shaping by leaving it in the forge after I was done with the rough hammer forging. Turned it off and let the piece reach room temp on its own time schedule.
Here the sides are removed. Mostly by file but some dremel work to round the edges that I could not reach. In this pic the center is still a bit too much of a channel. I've turned that inside edge more round. You just have to keep it a smaller radius than your smallest curve on the work piece.
This is a test piece of the same thickness I am using for the final piece. Turned almost completely flat. Just enough space to slip the wire in. Then trap it in with a few taps. I used a thin bladed screwdriver to make sure it is flush with the edge.
The ability for the tool to do its job well is closely tied to the size throat it has combined with the material thickness and wire thickness. Any change of these can change the way the material is packed into the channel and formed. Too much material and it squishes out the edge. Some you can grind off but too much and you might grind through the steel.
Place the roll, outside down and hammer the inside rolled edge/wire into the channel. Might take more than one pass. If thick material heat can encourage it.
This is the final product. How high the roll sits above the rest of the surface is a function of how deep the channel is. I know, duh. But I thought I would mention it since no amount of pounding will make it taller than that.
The light scallops on the finished surface are from the edge of the shaped tooth there in the middle of the tool. Those grind out pretty easily though rounding that edge with care when you are making the tool helps mitigate them.
