"RogerN" wrote in message
m...
"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
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"RogerN" wrote in message
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"Steve Lusardi" wrote in message
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Roger,
To do this right, you need to make a significant investment in sheet
metal tools, which should include a sheer, a brake, rolls, a shrinker,
sheet metal hammers, dollies planishing pillows and hammers, as well as
several other less significant items. Most of the cost of these can be
avoided if you use preformed replacement panels. Of course, this will
not help you achieve the skill set of hand forming custom panels, but
it does make economic sense. Please also note, that back yard repairs
done incorrectly will devalue the vehicle. Please also note that the
investment required is not just money, but significant time and very
hard work. There are very few people with these old fashioned skill
sets still alive today. You will not achieve these with just the
experience from one vehicle. Another, not well understood fact is that
the sheet metal used in vehicles today is much thinner than what used
to be used. Consequently, almost all panel damage results in stretched
metal, making panel repair impractical. Additionally, the odds of you
achieving the skill set you wish to have is about "0" without
instruction from a master. I don't mean to rain on your parade, but you
should go into this with your eyes open.
Steve
"RogerN" wrote in message
news
The part I want to do the metal work from raw sheet is a hole in the
door probably done by Bobcat, the guy I purchased from used it to pull
his Bobcat around in his landscaping business. So, that part is sort of
in the middle of the door where the metal is fairly flat and it doesn't
look rusted, looks like someone put house paint over it. I don't think
I want to try to re-skin the door for the hole. The other metal shaping
toys are just for fun, I'd like to play with sheet metal and try to
learn to shape it like they do on the Chopper TV programs. For the
rusted thru above the wheel fenders I plan to try ready made replacement
panels. Other than that there are many places where it is scratched or
banged up a little, this truck was used to do work and shows is.
RogerN
Take a look at the Tinman's site:
http://www.tinmantech.com/
You've gotten good advice from others about the frustration of working
with today's thin body sheet metal, which is often a HSLA (high-strength
low-alloy) that is particularly nasty. It work-hardens if you look at it
cross-eyed.
However, you can have a heck of a lot of fun learning to shape other
kinds of sheet metal. I've tried it, with the sandbag and stump methods.
I produce something that looks like waves in a stormy sea. g Better
luck to you. It requires persistence.
--
Ed Huntress
I guess you weren't trying to make waves in a stormy sea? You can always
sell your failures as modern art!
RogerN
What failures? They were successful experiments. g
I was working 3003 aluminum, and it's tricky to shrink it with hand tools.
It can be done; you just need to develop some expertise.
Like a lot of metalworking pursuits, you have a few choices. If you want to
build replica bodies or something, you'll need all the tools or a lifetime
of learning and practice. (You'll still need a lot of both, even with all
the tools.) Or you can confine yourself to making simple patch panels
without much crown, and do it all with hand tools (and the flanger that a
couple of folks have mentioned) -- and patience.
I had no interest in making a lifetime hobby out of it, so I just tried the
hand methods. I made my own wooden hammers and sand bag; I hollowed out a
stump with my disc sander; and I made my own slappers. My total investment,
including the dollies and metal hammers that I bought, was less than $150.
It was fun to play with it and to get an idea of what's involved. And I
could see how some people get a lot of pleasure out of it. Doing it well is
a real art.
If you look at the Tinman's pages, you'll see some of the art at its highest
level.
--
Ed Huntress