Tech Month~~Home made metal shaping tools

Not to high jack your thread but a buddy of mine is a black smith. He has an oxygen bottle cemented in his shop floor upside down. It has the concaved bottom like the stump. Just an idea.

 

Great tech, Johnny.

Thanks for that.

What diameter did you select for the stump?

I am guessing that it is tall enough for you to stand comfortably and use it.

I've got some old bats that I have been saving for mallets, but have not gotten around to making them.

I thought of finding a hammer handle for them, but it looks like using the small end of the bat works better.

Again, thanks for all the great info.

Mike

 

use the "bowl" method to make the dish at the rear of the cup, and weld it to a ring formed separately.

metal shaping is probably the most rewarding of the skills i've learned so far...and i'm a machinist by trade!

 

I had to find a picture showing the back of one.I would make it in two pieces with a wired edge lip on the front.If it were me I would want the back to be more of a blunt point,in that case I would probably make it in three pieces splitting the back into two pieces.



Edit you beat me to it Ray Thanks

I forgot to mention I would use a piece of thin walled pipe for the front section

 

They work well I have a couple of friends that have them Jeff Dyce and Bill Heineken and they both love them.I haven't tried one so I couldn't give you a real good answer.

 

I kind of lucked across the stump but it was large.I try to keep things that I am hammering on at elbow height it seems comfortable there for me.

 

A good height for the stump is important. Like I said, at first I didnt think I could do it so I didnt put a lot of energy into selecting or making the stump but it worked out great. I have to sit on a stool because its short. My shop is small so I also have to move things around. The english wheel was moving when I used it so I attached the stump to it as a weight and that worked good.

I like the idea of the oxy bottle upsidedown. I think I will try that.

 

Thanks fellas!
I'll try my hand at this.

When the student is ready,the Master shall appear....

Great thread!

 

Johnny, Thanks for taking the time to explain in detail. Your pics and explanations together made it way easier to understand the process. Bryan

 

That is what tech month is all about I can't wait to read all of the new articles.

 

Just looking at all the hammer work makes me sore, work like this is for the young. Nice article, wish I could still do things like this.

 

Well, Johnny, I don't have any of my pics available right now.........maybe later.

Bill's wheel is certainly suitable for an artist! I dig the legs!

I use discarded disc blades for bag stands (and a bunch of other stands too, but, I digress) and weld 2" pipe couplers to them. Done that way, the stands can be taken apart into 3 pieces for easier transport (to Metalmeet events and such). My shrinker and stretcher sit on stands with disc blades for the bases. Living in Cornfield, Illinois certainly has one advantage.

My e-wheel frame is made from 1"x3"x16ga rectangular tube! I stacked 5 pieces into a 3"x5" (approx) section. I'm using a lower adjuster, like Johnny. My 8"x2" upper wheel came from Harbor Freight, on sale for $29.99. My anvils, however, are from Hoosier Pattern, on sale for significantly more!

I bought a Harbor Freight bead roller kit. While technically not a home made metalshaping tool, the HF roller was, for me, unusable as delivered. Did some bracing and added a 90vDC motor and variable speed controller to it. Still going strong after 4 years.

I've made the baseball bat mallets. Great tool! Using the small end of the bat for a handle takes a bit of getting used to (cuz it's round), but it works out great! I've also made hammers with interchangeable heads - plastic and steel heads even. I started out using pipe Tees, then graduated to machining the heads out of steel and aluminum stock. Made my first set of replaceable heads using a modified pipe coupler to hold the plastic and an electric drill clamped to the bench as a lathe.....my methods are slightly more sophisticated now.

I have a smaller, portable stump. It goes on a stand like the bag does. I had a big stump - 250+ pounds of sycamore - but didn't take care of it and it started to mold on the bottom. A tree stump holds a lot of water!

Speaking of bags, I make my own beater bags too. With the prices right now, it's almost cheaper to buy one than to make it! I bought the leather off of ebay, and it was sewn on a regular old home sewing machine. One round of stitching with upholstery thread, glue it together with contact cement, then 2 more rounds of stitching. It's got about 3 1/2 years of mileage on it now.

I've built several planishing hammers. The one I have now was actually the second I built...it just didn't get finished. While I made a few others, this one sat unfinished in the corner. Finally dug it out and finished it up.....and barely use it cuz I don't like the noise.

My greatest "accomplishment" in tool building is my "reciprocating machine". It's kinda like a mini-Pullmax or other nibbler, but mine can be carried from one place to another - well, sorta, it weighs 155lbs, I weigh 165.

It's kinda hard to see around the crap in the garage, but here's a little video of it:






I'll see if I can load up some pics in the morning.

Tim D.

 

That just gave me a great idea. I am in need of a larger blast cabinet! I thought thats what it was at first. Looks like a tool box got any other picks?

 

Here's the pics from the main page feature,on www.garagejournal.com ,and for anyone who hasn't checked the site lately,now that Marcy has taken over,it moves along at quite a fast pace now.

 

I did a few panel beating courses years ago but have never taken the time make the tools needed. You've inspired me...........i'm off to cut a tree down now!

 

Tim I think me and you have a lot in common.We look at thing's a little different then most.Me and you look at a pile of junk and then start thinking about what we can do with it.Some people might see junk we see tools.

Also we were taught the same way....just do it,just make sure it's perfect when it is done.

Bill's coming over we plan on a little metal shaping today,which is good I spent all day writing this thread yesterday.The last thing I want to happen is for me to turn into a key board metal shaper.

29bowtie

When I saw that in the back ground I thought it was your sand blast cabinet.It looks great in the shop.

Docco

That is cool.If you find a good one let us know.

39 Ford

I'm not going to lie to you,when I shaped that bowl my arm was killing me.That being said my arm heart just as bad blocking bondo.

There are way's around swinging the hammer,If you use a reciprocating machine like the one Tim showed it will eliminate all of the hard hammer work.

I am a firm believer that you should learn how to do it by hand first.

 

I love the bat/ hammer idea. I just don't know where I can find a hardwood stump, we don't have hardwood trees around here!

 

This is the only other one I have.
What a great idea. I need a bigger blast cabinet too. Just got done doing my intake and valve covers in a tiny cabinet, what a pain. Never thought of using it for that. I was trying to sell it but the blast cabinet is a much better idea.
One pair of gloves in each door.

And a new tool is born!

 

i've been impressed with everything i've seen you do and i'm even more so with your low buck metal shaping tools. way to go. you've got at least a half a dozen tech articles all rolled into one. i'm savin this thread for sure!

i too thought the back of that van was some kind of giant blast cabinet. LOL untill i enlarged the pics. great idea either way... if i only had the space.

 

Hmmm... got an oak tree in the woods that fell this summer, and was planning on cutting it for firewood. Looks like I'll be keeping some of it for a stump.

I have a question for jhnarial--I've heard lead hammers can also be used for shrinking. I haven't gotten off my ass and made my hammer yet, but I have a hammer mold and a couple 5lb "plumber cakes" of lead. As it was explained to me, a lead hammer shrinks the metal without the tucks, but I don't know for sure--I've never done it.

Thoughts?

-Brad

 

Ryan

You got me curious on how hard it would be to make one.So today me and a friend built one.I wasn't sure what the dimensions of your tack was so I guessed.I got a piece of 3'' exhaust pipe. and just went with that.



I formed the back piece using pure stretch.I just laid it on top of the pipe and just started hammering away.



Then with a slapper dolly I smoothed it out.



Then the flared side of the exhaust pipe I made a pattern and cut out a design to slip over the tach housing.Just to give it some flare.








Here it is roughed in.







Here it is completed.

 

Brad thats a new one to me.I'm not sure but it doesn't sound right.

 

jhnarial,
Awesome tutorial!
I'm heading for exhaust tubing and some supplies!
Thank you!

 

really digging that tach cup..hmmm, I need another tach..haha

 

can you detail how the bat hammer is made?it looks simple but how do you secure the handle to the head?what shape did you make the cut end of the bat?

 

This looks like fun. I'm gonna have to find a stump.
Tisizkool!

 

Ya cut the bat in two, measure the cut end of the handle and drill a hole about that size in the other piece.

Sounds like a smart ass answer, but that's about it.

I used a big disk sander to turn the cut end of the handle down to a size I had a forstner bit for. Layed the "barrel end" on a piece of rod to find the approximate balance point and drilled the hole as close as I could to the balance point. The hole is only about an inch or so deep. The cut end of the barrel piece was rounded off into a ball shape (somewhat) using, again, the disk sander.

The handle diameter was left just a tad large, to make for a decent press fit - not too tight. I drilled a 1/8" in the center of the blind hole that was drilled for the handle. Slathered some wood glue on the cut end of the handle and pushed it into the big hole in the barrel. Drove a drywall screw into the 1/8" hole just to clamp it together and make sure it wouldn't come off.

About 3 1/2 or 4 years use on mine, without any issues yet.

A picture or two would have made this post a whole lot easier! Anybody else ever notice that they never take pics of the part of the process people are gonna ask about? I'm really bad about that! I also suck at organizing my pics, which is why I haven't added any to this thread yet.

Just so you all know, the stump doesn't have to be an actual stump. Any chunk of wood about as big around as a medium pizza or bigger and at least a foot long can be made to work.....just need something to set it on.

Tim D.
(I ain't Johnny Arial, but I do play a metalshaper on the internet)

 

Hey jhnarial - just like i said i cut down a big tree today but after cutting up the stump, the face is more an oval shape 8.5inches wide by 11inches tall.
If i cut the dish in the face 6inches round by 2inches deep wll it still work alright or should i find a bigger stump and cut it 8inch round? Anyone else had any experience with this?

 

thanks tdoty.i was wondering if it was wedged like a normal hammer or glued/.im gonna go look for a wood bat this week at our second hand sports store.then stop by the air/gas shop and see if they have an old oxygen tank for cheap.jhnarial that tach cup is badass!

 

Docco...........6", 8", 10"......this is a case where size really doesn't matter. There is a tool on the market that's called the Tuck Puck, basically a stump you can stick in your pocket.

5150merc, not a prob. Just make sure it's a pretty tight fit before you glue it together. Might check a junkyard for an oxy bottle too........see 'em around here sometimes, already cut.

Hey Johnny, that tach cup ROCKS!!! I like the outer band that gives it a bit more style! Been working on/working out my gauges this weekend, but it's machining and not metalshaping......now I gotta make a new cup for my tach, just like yours!

Tim D.