Looking for some current feedback. Had an old "sunchaser" and looking to get a new disc, maybe a combo, large and small. I've noticed they are available from Wolfes Metal Fab and Pro-Shaper( a Wray Schelin product), but I'd like to know which seems to be the better product. Any info is greatly appreciated.
did Sunchaser go out of business? I have worn out one Sunchaser disc and am on my second, though i don't really do that stuff anymore. I used a small smooth one recently, just messing around and did not have good luck with it, my friend had the larger smooth one but I did not try that one. I think I like the large rippled ones.
I have the 7 and 4-1/2 from Wolfes. I like them but they are the only ones I've used so I can't tell you how they compare. Well made and the shipping was fast.
I have a Wray Schelin disc, it was too flat, so I put some dish in it with a panel hammer and dolly, works very well. One of the guys dropped it off the bench while mounted to the sander and bent it, now it works even better...
Why would you hammer the shrinking disk? It works perfect, you have to learn how to use it. The wolfes is a direct ripoff of Wrays. The ruffled is sunchaser. There are two different schools of thought on sunchaser disk, which is actually not kens idea. One is a constant contact (Wrays) other is allowing air between the tucks in sunchaser.
You never knew how to use it in the first place. If you have questions you can call me and I will tell you why 714-913-7139
I have used the Sunchaser disc for years, but, as has been said on other threads, Ken really isn`t selling them any more, in fact if he will sell them at all, it is in lots of 5. I am working on a Shrinking Disc idea of my own, but don`t have much to show yet. Once you learn how to use one, they work very well. Not a cure-all though. Kind of like any Hot Rod building tool....
BUMP. Finally getting around to trying the 9" Proshaper disc I got a year ago but I haven't had any success getting heat to the panel. Doing a quarter panel on the car. Not ripply but a high spot on a largish area. After 20 seconds or on about a 4 inch diameter area I'm getting no red hot area in the center, no smoke off the wet rag. Am I doing something wrong? Not enough RPMs? Also I think I need to add a backing pad behind the disc.
Backer for sure and you don't want red hot anything with the disc. Personally I use a lot of rpm's and control the heat with pressure. To the comment about not knowing how to use the disc blah blah blah,,,, a lot of what we do is equal parts rocket science and mad science. How something feels to you has a lot to do with how it works for you and may not be the right thing for me but it worked for him. He didn't like the disc and modified it to make it work better for him and you don't have the right to talk down to him for what he did.
I'm with this, I could get them all to work but the large fluted one I had was the most 'magic' out of all of them. That one plus I would even use a rag, just hit the area with a fat mist it would steam away and change shape.
Used my "pro shaper" disc last night Works great. As Dead flat as it is on both high and low crown panels. It's tricky on concave areas and you better be paying attention. It Depends on what the panel wants for the disc to work, a little heat and air moves moves the panel a bunch IF that's what the panel wants. Lots of heat and water with steam sometimes won't move it BECAUSE the panel wants something different.
I made one by grinding the teeth off a 9" circular table saw blade. (that was on a Sunday when I really needed one...did the job beautifully! Just worked it like Ken showed me...
My new disks came with backers but the old one used the buffing backer, both seem about the same hardness. Anything better than not having one at all. You want to get it just hot enough to make steam, if its turning blue or red your getting to much heat in it. Also for cooling I use cheap window cleaner, dries faster less streaking and it doesn't need any post treatment to stop surface rust. $1 for a big bottle at the Dolla store.
OK I'll give it another go. Seems I remember the guys I saw do it in the 'old days' would heat it red with the torch and hit it with a wet rag. Different process maybe, or they were doing it wrong. Thanks again.
The disc is more controllable, more predictable, and gives you a less work damaged panel in the end. Raising a knot with a torch and slapping it down works well for shrink but it's really aggressive. Id compare the two as a disc like a broom and the torch like a bulldozer.
the problem with a torch is it not only heats the high spot but the surrounding area as well which may create more problems than it solves. The disc only hits/heats the high area so the shrink is a lot more focused on the trouble spots. I still use a torch sometimes but not as much as I use the disc.
I bought an eBay special about two years ago, it worked fine, because I made it do so. I probably could have done just as well with a pot lid but all of ours are glass. Da Tinman is right about how hot to get it and quenching is really important. I swear by the process, but not so sure about the disk that I bought. If you can find a place locally to visit that sells them, take your grinder with you and see if it fits properly and buy that one. The one I got backed the nut off when I was using the backer, the disk flew off, did a sparky burnout in my driveway for a couple seconds, no shit, when it finally got traction it flew down my driveway shot across the street and hit the curb and flew straight up about 30 feet, landed and went in ever decreasing circles until it fell over which took about 20 seconds. If I'm lyin' I'm dyin'. That scared the piss out of me, but I took the backer off and the tool worked fine, although I treated it rather gingerly anyway. I still have it, but I hope I don't have to use it again, you know?
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