Tech Month~~Home made metal shaping tools

What would the recomended "Hard woods "be for the stump shrinker? I can get Black Locust with ease. Is any one familiar with this wood to say if it would work? It is extremely hard to split with an axe and very stringy when it does split.
Thanks

 

I've made a couple hundred bat hammers. They should technically be called "Winsett" hammers after the first one I saw at FormFest 02 by Steve Winsett. Steve passed away last year.

Cut the big end off aobut 14-16" long. The trick is to drill the hole at the BALANCE point of the big end. If you put it in the middle, it will be off balance and not fall to hand as easily...especially if you're using the bottom end of the bat as a handle.

I drill about a 1 1/4" hole, and sand the handle to fit. While you're sanding, profile the ends. You want to get a smooth radiused end. Epoxy the handle in place being sure to keep the handle perpendicular to the center line of the head. Clean up any excess epoxy and polyurethane if you want...the metal doesn't care.

There are lots of different style bats so depending on how large a diameter yours is, you may or may not want the same length head. I like to be able to get into a fairly deep shape.

That's it.

 

frickin' awesome!! i've got an old stump right here!!! thanks!!

 

Why not use a regular wood hammer handle with the baseball bat end ?

much easier to keep a hold of since it has flat sides

Beaulieu

 

I'm not familiar with black locust but any hard wood will work.


Kerry your the man.

If it wasn't for great guy's like Kerry and Randy and other's that have taken the time out to share there knowledge,I wouldn't have learned anything.

I also want to mention that Kerry Pinkerton builds the best English Wheel on the Market,hands down.So if you are in the market check out his web-site.

I am really excited with all of you guy's getting involved.Please share your metal shaping when you guy's get around to it how ever big or small it may be.There is nothing I enjoy more then reading a good metal shaping thread.

Happy New Year Everyone

 

Great info. Thanks for sharing.

 

You can certainly do that. I make steel hammers with replaceable ends that use regular hammer handles. The hammer handles require a hole that is more of a slot....about 11/16"x1 1/4", IIRC.

Using the bat handle as a hammer handle just requires drilling a hole. I use a blind hole made with a forstner bit.

Being a cheapskate, I hate throwing away the extra materal that is cut off and replacing it with another piece of wood that cost me $4.

I guess it depends on what you have on hand and how much work you wanna do.


Tim D.

 

my stump is made out of lucust wood. its hard a rock and works great. there was a guy at one of the metalmeets who had a truckload of locust wood. some were 24" in diameter. just make sure its dry first. I treated mine with linseed oil and johnsons paste wax. haven't had any cracks yet. good luck with yours

John

 

One of my favorite tools for tipping a flange isn't a homemade tool - it's a crescent wrench! The 1/2" tools works well around flanges too. I made mine well before Ron Covell printed in his Professor Hammer column..........and I stole the idea from someone else!

How tight of a curve can you do with a crescent wrench? Well, I did these for a friends Chevy truck:



The curve around the back of the cab is the tightest radius I've had to tip a flange on.

These were made by cutting the shape based on a template made from a set of original aprons. The originals looked very nice and were super straight............they were also VERY thin. The flexible shape pattern showed me where to put the flanges and the exact shape I needed to cut out. Ran them through the e-wheel with a go kart slick for an upper wheel to put the roll in it. Once that was right, the long straight flanges were done on a bead roller and the curved flanges were tipped with an 8" Crescent wrench. finished off the curved flanges with a hammer and dolly.

Tim D.

 

Those turned out great Tim.

Was that for Doug's truck?


Talking about Simple Rolls using an English Wheel,Go-cart slicks work great.My problem was I did not allow myself enough room for one.So I had to go a different rout.Here is what I came up with.

 

Yep, those were for Doug's truck..........which, apparently, Uncle Johnny has been working on finishing. I thought they turned out nice.....too bad they were 2" too long! The originals Doug had were apparently off a different wheelbase truck than his. Couldn't talk Gleeser and Ed into moving the rear axle back 2 inches. Doug sectioned them to fit.

I have a urethane upper wheel ( 6" urethane caster that was cleaned up on the lathe) and an 8" pneumatic tire mounted to a yoke.....but I still wanna build one of those skate wheel uppers! Awesome idea!

Tim D.

 

Found another one. Tucking forks are great for shrinking. Some people do all of their shrinking by making the tucks and hammering them down. On compound curve stuff I use a stump like Johnny shows - if I don't use the thumbnail dies in the little yellow machine I posted before.

For small areas and for some flanges, I still use the forks.



I have a shrinker, but sometimes i just don't wanna bugger up the edges of the panel with the jaws.

A couple of cheap pry bars were cut down and the tips were rounded and smoothed. I put a piece of 16ga in between the bars and welded them together. Welded a handle to the result and came up with what's in the pics. The set on the bottom has a larger gap between the tines....it was the first set I made.

They don't get used a lot, but they are handy to have around.

Tim D.

 

Tim

I didn't wright anything about tuck shrinking because I feel that I haven't gotten it all figured out yet.Tuck shrinking is something I still need some help on.

There are so many people crushing there tucks out differently.I have tried them all and found that using John Kelly method works the best for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obySlwD2h5A

That being said here is how I do it be it wrong or right.This is something I would love to get better at so please jump in if you see a better way I can do it.

Here is my tucking forks.



To place a tuck into the metal,I just insert the metal into the tucking forks.Then push the metal around the tucking forks to the left.Then remove the metal and the reinsert it on the other side of the fold,and then push the metal to the left.After that I put just the tip of the tuck back into the forks and tighten the tip of the tuck.













Here is the hard part capturing your tuck so it just doesn't run out on you.

I take a body hammer and beat in the end of the tuck.Moving from moving from side to side working my way back wards.It's hard to explain but the video will show you.





After I get the tuck trapped I just wash it out toward the back with my shaping hammer.

Just keep adding tucks until you get your desired shape.Where to place your tucks is a whole another story.











There are two things I don't like about tuck shrinking it Gaul's the metal up and it takes me longer to clean up and I don't get as much shrink out tuck shrinking as I do with stump shrinking but I'm pretty sure that is because I am not very good at it.

Investigate it for yourself and find what works the best for you.

 

I use a combination method.

I was taught to tuck shrink by making the tuck then hammering it out on a flat surface, working from the point of the tuck out to the open edge. A plastic hammer with wedge shaped faces and a hard plastic or wood surface work best.

It works pretty well.

Then, I got John Kelly's DVD "Tuck Shrinking". John teaches using a steel hammer and working from the open end of the tuck in toward the point. It's best to work over a steel surface that has a radius - a half-football post dooly works very well here.

If I'm tucking a large area, like the fender(?) in your pics, I tend to make the tucks and then start working from the outside in - just like John teaches. Once I am making some progress on getting the edge shrunk, I'll flip it over and switch hammers. The wedge shaped plastic hammer, working from in to out, makes quick work of crushing the tuck.

For flanges, I use John's method. Flanges usually require small tucks and it goes fairly quick.

If I'm working in my garage and have to make big shrinks..........well, I use my thumbnail dies. Learning to shrink manually first, just makes the thumbnails that much nicer and easier to use...IMHO.

The reason you can get a more effective shrink out of the stump is because the stump helps "trap" the rest of the metal. In the stump, it won't spread back out as readily as working on a flat surface. The only galling issues I have are from the ends of the forks. Doesn't matter how smooth the ends of the forks are, I always seem to get little "bite marks" on the metal that just don't come out without sanding.

I agree with Johnny - try the different manual methods and find what works for you.

Well, I'm off to Randy's place!

Tim D.

 

Thanks for the input Tim

I will give it a shot.I haven't tried to flip it to wash it out.

Tell Randy Randy Ryan and Michell and his daughter I said Hi.Don't have to much fun you lucky dog.Iwish I lived closer

 

This is my new wheel. I needed one with more clearance. I have 1" wide wheels coming any time.




The adjuster wheel is off an old gate valve.



I used a kingpin for the lower and the original wedge.
Jeff

 

That came out nice Jeff.It sure would be nice to have a wheel dedicated with one inch anvils.I also like the upper adjuster you designed I haven't seen one quite like that before.

 

Upper adjuster is part of a dumpster score. I have more. I am just waiting to see if the cross peice I have the screw going to will buckle. It's 1/2x2
Jeff

 

No way, if it is steel.

 

Wait, wait, wait! I musta been stoned! Don't flip it over, just switch hammers. 5 hours of driving gives you some time to think about what you've said

Only saw Randy and his press. Oh, by the way, his daughter's name is Shelby

Oh, I got to see his "new" car too! A CLEAN '40 Willys! It's not perfect and has a bit of surface rust, but, for a Willys, that sucker is clean and straight!!!!! At least compared to the ones usually brought to his shop.

Sorry 'bout the bout of stupidity there......hope it didn't screw ya up.

Tim D.

 

You should be good. Got any detail pics of that adjuster? Or a shipping price to..........oh, wait, uh.................

Tim D.

 

Yeh I looked at it again and it's 5/8 not 1/2. It'll be ok. The frame will flex before that bends. The anvils are 1X3 with really narrow contacts and tight radius. Shouldn't need a real stout frame for those. After hauling my wheels a few months ago I decided to make a portable unit I can use in my bag stand and that's what I came up with.

Tim
I did that once without thinking. Flipped the panel over and marked the hell out of it. I fixed it after I asked myself what where you thinking?

How much capacity is that press Randy picked up. Looks like a laminate press.

Jeff

 

The adjuster was from a door company that went out of buisness(and through a bunch of their stuff). It was part of some feed of some sort. I have a few more like it. I put the screw and handle on the top. All I had to do to the slide is narrow it up. It's nice and tight.

 

We're not sure on the capacity of the press. It's an old trim press from a casting shop. Apparently he went through a lot of trouble getting it. Pretty funny story, but I ain't telling it all.

He's been in contact with the manufacturer and should have more info on Monday.

We're gonna strip it down to basically, the baddest shop press in town. It's beefy enough for probably 150 tons, but we have no idea what the ram size is yet.........the paperwork he has is for a smaller machine. It weighs in at around 11k! Ought to be enough to start him out!

Wanna sell an adjuster? Or just gimme some detail shots and I'll see if I can build my own.......................

Tim D.

 

I only have enough to peice one more together Tim. I better hang on to it just in case.

Can't wait to see some parts. Congrats Randy!!

 

Well Jeff, you know me, I had to ask! I have a few things that I wish I hadn't gotten rid of it's mate.................and cases where "I shoulda grabbed that" or "I shoulda grabbed another one of those". But...........it never hurts to ask.

Tim D.

 

You certainly can if you have a way to make the rectangular hole. I actually prefer an 18" hammer handle but if you take the time to balance the head correctly by locating the hole at the balance point, the round bat handle works fine and you get used to it in just a few swings. I actually have several of both sizes and my brain doesn't care, I can just spin it to the other end and somehow my brain makes it stop where it's supposed to.

Back when I was making bat hammers for sale, I bought seconds from a bat company. Wooden bats are not as easy to find as you'd think. I've never seen one at a yard sale...I guess folks always keep their kids ball bats...

You can buy them new but they're pricey.

 

amen brother!waly world doesn't even carry wood bats.none at the second hand sports shop either.

 

We have an antique store down the road from the shop. They have used ones for under $10.00. Last time I was there they had some small ones about 18" long I though about making a smaller hammer with. I picked it up and it felt to light to do much shaping with.

 

Has anyone reshaped a cheap HF deadblow hammer with a grinder? Just a thought that I haven't tried yet. I thought I had an original idea with the baseball bats until I saw this link. Day late, Dollar short again.