My $180 tube roller paid for itself on one tank job in Gary, but the $60 one before it cost me two days

Hannah Craig · 2026-10-17T20:30:03.777606+00:00

Bought a cheap tube roller off a marketplace listing about a year back and figured it would get me by. It walked all over the bench on the first pass and left a flat spot in the wall of a 6 inch stub I was rolling. Wound up cutting the piece out and doing it by hand, which ate two days on a shutdown in Gary. Spent $180 on a bench mounted roller from a supply house after that and it has not slipped once. The dies hold the tube square and I can set a repeat pass and walk away. I know some of you will say technique matters more than the tool and yeah, it does, but there is a reason the cheap ones get sold on marketplace in the first place. Curious what you all are rolling with on small bore stuff, and if anyone has a vise mounted setup that does not walk on them.

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My $180 tube roller paid for itself on one tank job in Gary, but the $60 one before it cost me two days | Boilermakers - Vivisector