swap meet for cheap auto body tools that work just fine. otherwise evilbay has hammer/doll sets you can buy
Whatever you do DON'T buy that CHinese crap from Harbor, or any of the other cheap-o tool dealers! It's soft cast iron junk! I've seen and bought excellent tools on Ebay, be sure they are name brands, like Fairmont, Proto, Snap-on, even Craftsmen. You can get good prices on used hammers and dollies there, and perhaps at flea markets. Thoug I usually see pretty high prices on old hammers and such at places like Carlisle/Hershey. Buy good old stuff and clean them up, polish the faces, and you're ready to rock! Even stuff like Wiss tinsnips can be bought used, and sharpened.
ebay is a good start , old tool and clean them up you cant do any better for the money just like all the things from the 50es /60es they were built to last
depends on what you are looking for. I have cheap tools from swap meets and then the higher priced Snap On Tools /MAc Tools/Matco for the must have- use every day stuff that I can afford to have wear out/break down. If you are just starting out, get everything you can- you will always need 4 7/16 wrenches and other duplicates!!
IMO, if your tinkering around the house, get the harbor freights. If you want to make a living or do it all the time on the side, ebay is a great way. I use snap on, proto, and mac. If I had a winning lottery ticket they would be all snap on.
I agree whole heartedly with this-plus, until you learn how to use them, the quality of the tool isn't going to be significant. If you progress in skill, then go for better stuff; if you plateau at some low level you haven't wasted your money.
I have some martin body tools, that I bought from Eastwood as a huge set like 25 years ago. They still kick ass and never regretted it. You can buy martin elsewhere too.... Just at the time eastwood had a HUGE set of like all the dollies and hammers... I havent seen a complete set like that in years but the quality was and still it great!
This is one area where it is important to get good quality tools. You will never know why you are not getting good results as a beginner if you use crap hammers and dollies. Most cheap ones are not shaped right for anything but hackery. If all you want is something that will mash the metal around for filler, then cheap is fine, but for metal-finishing get the good stuff. John www.ghiaspecialties.com
I am starting with less expensive stuff to get me started, then upgrading as funds allow, got the harbor freight stuff now, but goin to the big three this weekend to look for some good stuff!
These guys are correct, spend the money and get a couple decent hammers and dolly's. Martin's aren't that expensive and well worth it.
My brother gave me a set of the Harbor Freight ones. US General Set #31277. All the dolly's and hammers are forged in the set I have. It took a little work and some 80 grit on the a DA (its what I had) to get a good finish/edges on them. For the minimal amount of work I need to do on my project, they'll work fine. I'm super lucky though, the body on my truck is quite straight. I've have a "practice fender" since i'm just learning to use these tools and I can definatley see why everyone is telling you to stay away from them. If you plan on doing alot of hammering you'll soon replace them with better tools. But, for a guy like me, with a couple of screw holes in my rig... perfect.
if you plan on doing shitty work buy shitty tools. if I needed to start all over the first place I'd look for body tools is the local automotive paint store.
here's a combo set of Martins http://weldwarehouse.securesites.com/cgi-bin/einstein.pl?::1:WLDWH:1:number=647K
I tell folks that if your just starting out and dont know if your gonna like doing metal work,,,,, go ahead get Horrible Fright stuff. If you like it then you can upgrade. No sense in spending hundreds for tools that may end up driving nails.
www.autobodystore.com Not the cheapest but Len gives good advice and customer service. Good selection. I have no affiliation with him/the site and don't really like him, but he provides good products at reasonable prices and stands behind what he sells.
I've been using the forged dollies from the harbor freight set if you reshape them and then polish, you can end up with whatever you need for pretty cheap... and they seem to be holding up just fine... The snap-on hammers have the pins in the top perpendicular to the face to tighten the handle, most other brands have it paralell which lets it come loose after a while as the wood isnt expanded the correct direction I found a couple snap-on hammers at a swap meet, i mainly just use one hammer though all the time along with a couple wooden tools i made and also a file for finding high/low spots and for shrinking Zach
just for the record, mine were purchased before i knew any better, just upgrading as i can when i can!
Quote: <TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset" class=alt2>Originally Posted by publicenemy1925 IMO, if your tinkering around the house, get the harbor freights. If you want to make a living or do it all the time on the side, ebay is a great way. I use snap on, proto, and mac...................... </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> Of course. I enjoy using nice tools, but If I didn't have my Proto and Snapon the product would not suffer if I decided to use cheapass junk tools. Making excuses for crappy work by blamin' it on the tools? Ha.
Crappy tools will slow down your learning curve of an already difficult and frustrating set of skills. I know this for a fact. I teach metal working to 30 to 40 students a year. It's the reason I no longer allow these pieces of shit in the shop. If it's not worth spending a few extra bucks to learn then stay away from the metal. If you don't care about developing skills, or how the job turns out, then save yourself 20 bucks and use a rock and a stick. They'll work as well and last longer, and are made in the USA.
its how you hold the tool that mattter not where is made ..I saw a guy i know .. somepeople here know who im talking about do amazing body work with a regular carpenter hammer and a peice of steel ., its about how bad you want to learn ...not what the currency is in ur bank . . with that said , ton of crap and tons of nice tools . fo some reason i use the crap stuff cuz the good stuff dosent walk off it runns off... there a snapon hammer that is the best thing in my collection .. flat head with the arked back chizel head .. use it for damb near anything .. just start banging steel ... and stop and look at how it moves ... knowing the next move is the key ... just like chess or ... a first date ... wtf ? ya he just said all that
Man good tools are the key, one thing that has not been said yet is get a hammer that feels good in your hand I have a bunch of martins blackhawk and some really sweet no name hammers i bought off of some drunk guy snap on DOES NOT MAKE make junk but i can not stand the handle in their hammers and if your looking at some hammers at a swap meet look at the marks on the side of the hammer head just like how you look at a crankshaft to see if they are forged or cast and any ANYthing you buy always surface and polish them even my new martin hammers needed some tune up but not much and when your looking at a dolly if all the sides are not smooth don't buy it or don't pay much for it cheap dollys are always good for grinding the crap out of to make it fit a certain profile happy hunting man!!! Pat
L@@KING for a specific hammer or dolly, go to GARAGEJOURNAL.COM place a 'WANTED AD' sit back and wait. OR do a search, go back from time to time and repeat the search! OR next time you are at a bodyshop ask if anyone has tools that are for sale. red ryder
I found an ad on CL that said "body tools" $150. Get to the guys house, and it's a 4 drawer dresser full of tools. One drawer all sand paper, the next down, hammers and dolly's, all USA made, except 1 Picard. Next drawer down was air boards, DA's, and drills. Last drawer was more air tools, and drills. All air tools where Bluepoint, Mac, or CP. I gave him the $150, just as another guy showed up to look. Watch CL for retired bodymen selling out...... Jeffrey
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