ESE Hand Seamers

You need tools that you can count on when installing a standing seam metal roof. If each sheet metal edge isn’t properly locked to the opposite panel, then your metal roof is vulnerable to leaks that damage the entire roof.

ESE Machines Inc. has top-quality manual seaming tools for locking metal roof panels together. ESE hand seamers are the best hardy tools for a flawless standing seam metal roof that will last over thirty years.

ESE Machines Inc.

ESE Machines Inc. is widely known by roofers across America for their innovation that changed the standing seam metal roofing industry forever. ESE’s founder, Ewald A. Stellrecht, immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1965 with his machine-building talents ready to be utilized. In 1976, Stellrecht met with a roofer who was installing a metal roof and needed faster seaming solutions. That year, Stellrecht began his cutting-edge design and developed the very first type of roll forming machine for double-lock standing seam metal roofs. 

Once the first power seamer was on the market, sales skyrocketed and ESE Machines Inc was born. Today they continue to sell power seamers, top-quality hand seamers, and other classic tools for metal seam roofing.

What Are Hand Seamers?

Hand seamers are roofing hand tools that bend and flatten sections of sheet metal. When installing a metal roof, the panels must be joined together with a tight seam so that there is no room for leaks. ESE hand seamers are the manual bending seam tool that professional roofers trust to create flawless seams that will protect a roof’s longevity. 

Hand seamers are often the first step of seaming a wide standing seam metal roof before the entire roof is completed with a power seamer. Hand seamers can also be used alone for smaller jobs. There are also two types of seam locks that can be made with a lock hand seamer; a single lock bend and a double lock bend. Different types of hand seamers are used depending on the necessary degree bend and the width of the panel ribs. 

Single Lock Hand Seamers

Single lock hand seamers are used for creating a 90-degree bend to join together two pieces of sheet metal. A standing seam single lock bend is formed by placing the female leg of one panel over the male leg or edge of the other metal panel. Once the two panels are lined up, the roofer should start at the top of the roof and work the hand seamer down to the bottom of the panel, bending each edge 90 degrees along the way.

ESE single-lock hand seamers should be chosen based on the panel profile. Here are a few types of single locking hand seamers that AMSI offers:

  • HS-150-E 
    • Alloy construction
    • Working depth of 3/8″ to 1/2″ nominal 
    • Jaw width of 1″, 1-1/2″, and 2″
  • HS-150-CE
    • Brass construction
    • Working depth of 3/8″ to 1/2″ nominal 
    • Jaw width of 1″, 1-1/2″, and 2″
  • HS-200-E
    • Steel construction
    • Working depth of 5/8″ to 3/4″ nominal
    • Jaw width of 2″, 2-1/2″, and 3″

 Some roofing projects may only need a single lock bend but a single lock edge bender is often the first stage of the metal panel locking process. The second stage of a 180-degree double lock cannot be completed until the first step is done.

Double Lock Hand Seamers

Double lock hand seamers are used for the second stage of seaming metal roof panels and they are the perfect companion tool to a single lock hand seamer in most roofing projects.

To form a double lock, place the second-stage hand seamer on top of the 90-degree bend that was created with a single lock hand seamer at the sheet metal edge. Starting from the top of the roof panel the contractor should create a 180-degree bend with the double lock bend seamer all the way down the panel’s edge until it is fully seamed. This process is then repeated on each panel edge before finishing the job off with a power seamer.

ESE double-lock hand seamers should also be chosen based on the metal roof panel’s profile. Here are a couple of ESE double-lock hand seamers :

  • HS-099-F
    • Brass construction
    • Working depth of 3/8″ to 1/2″ nominal 
    • Jaw width of 1″, 1-1/2″, and 2″
  • HS-099-200
    • Steel construction
    • Working depth of 5/8″ to 3/4″ nominal
    • Jaw width of 2″, 2-1/2″, and 3″

Choose Metal Tools You Can Trust

Choosing metal roofing tools you can trust is one of the metal roof seaming best practices to ensure you install a roof that will last. Cutting corners on the quality of your tools may put your standing seam metal roof at risk of damage and leaks.

ESE hand seamers are top-quality metal bender tools that create tight seams so you can feel confident about your work. Shop our AMSI’s ESE hand seamers and other metal roofing tools to ensure the quality of your next roofing project.

Contact us with any questions about our ESE hand seamers.

Posted in Metal Roofing, Roofing