On Monday, January 6, 2014 6:40:16 PM UTC-6, Clare wrote:
On Mon, 6 Jan 2014 07:48:15 -0800 (PST), "

wrote:



On Friday, January 3, 2014 12:01:35 PM UTC-5, Clare wrote:



To build a T-Bucket out of steel I would want a slip-roll former, a



planishing hammer, an english wheel, and a bead roller - as well as a



good tig welder. A rosebud torch for annealing the steel would also be



a requirement - to get rid of the work hardening. A plasma cutter



would make the job a bit easier as well. Make a wooden buck frame and



build the sheet metal around it - kinda like an old Fisher body





Could you elaborate on when one would want to use an English Wheel and when you would use a planishing hammer. I have not used either, but to me it looks like a planishing hammer is kind of like a powered English Wheel. There is another sheetmetal tool that is kind of a mechanical planishing hammer. I can not think of the name right now. It uses a lever action to move the anvil. And will put a lot more force on the metal being worked. I have been trying to think of the name so I could look at plans on the internet.



It seems to me one could make an English Wheel and have a conversion kludge to use the same frame for a planishing hammer.



Dan

You are thinking of an arbor press. A planishing hammer and an

english wheel do the same job, but a wheel is easier to make long

smooth curves (or to smooth out the work done by a planishing hammer)

This got me thinking. I looked at a planishing hammer set up at harbor freight. ALl it was was an air operated air hammer in a stand. This got me wondering. I was reading where someone built a CObra out of Aluminum using a wood buck. (I did not realize the original Cobra was aluminum until I read the article)

I know aluminum is much softer. Could a person use a hand operated air hammer like this to hammer the aluminum to the form of the buck thenjust use the English wheel to smooth out the marks left from the air hammer? It seems too simple so I am guessing it would not work.