Tech Month~~Home made metal shaping tools

Yeah Tim, I finnaly figured that out. I do have a good oak stump now, just have to work it and build some bands for it.

 

Some people are good at making fun of others while others are content to learn.

We're lucky here - we've got some masters here to help our learning process.

Just keep at it - before you know it -you might hear those same relatives saying - "It must be nice to have a ____" - where you can say -- "YES - Yes it is very nice!!!!"

I "waste" lots of days making nothing. Those are some of the best days of my life.

 

BTTT for some great tech!!

 

This is some damn useful information.

 

This is a simple tool I made to put a factory look in some floor pans. the sample is wrinkled because it is a piece of 26 guage scrap that was laying on the floor.On 18 guage panels they come out nice and sharp.

 

What do you guys think of these? www.tuckpuck.com I'm thinking of buying the high & low crown. Any feedback on the tool?Anyone have experience using them?

 

Brill love it would love to do ally as favorite metal any tips here would be great as want a ally body if i can. problem is ive very little space

 

The tuck puck is a great tool.there are some videos on you tube

 

David

Can you do a close up on that tool.

 

Thanks Johnny for an inspirational thread and,for taking the time to share your knowledge.Thanks also to the other guys who've added their contributions.I'll be saving this thread for sure!
Mark

 

what a amazing work you have done here, I wish I have all the tools and skills you got here.

It is Done from China, wish all the best to the kind people of this forum.

 

That was one of the weirdest first posts I've ever read....

BTTT! Love this thread! That tuck puck thing is kind of nifty!

 

Bump...

 

I felt inspired by this post so I went out and tried my hand with a piece of 18 gauge, a body hammer and the bottom of an out-of-certification CO2 tank. This was my first attempt. I'm guessing there was as much stretching as shrinking, if not more. I didn't see any tucks form, that's for sure. Anyway, I'm really intrigued to try it with a piece cut into a circle to see if I can make a bowl.

 

A cheap engine stand (but used for better things)
I've made a couple of different jigs for holding fenders, grille shells etc:





A great little cheap tool I use a bit.
I have many different sized tucking tools but this is my favourate:


I love skate board wheels. They leave a nice soft shapes (often a hard bead roller die will leave an edge if your not careful:


A home made radius roller........8' long


It can roll to 180*


But it's mainly ised for Valances:


Speaking of Vals. A hammer form made for the same job:


The end result conbined with some bead roller & hand shaping:


A 3 phase powered bead roller I built some years ago.
I fitted a VFD so the dirrection & speed can be changed easily.
I programed it so it takes 4 sec. to ramp up to the set speed, but stops on the spot (incase a mistake is made, so it doesn't take time to slow down)
Yes, it has foot control:


A large profile guage I made years ago:


Foot opperated Shrinker/Strechers. Hands free opperation:


Yeah! another stump:


Also made plenty of dies for stuff over the years.
This one added beads in a door, but also started the turn for the top of the door (roadster doors) The deeper the beads got, the more the "flaker" bit would turn the top.


This is how it turned out:


My English Wheel.
Built a while ago now (it cops a flogging!)
Runs Hoosier Patern Wheel & anvils, but the rest I did:


Plenty of other stuff I've made for metal shaping............ this will do for the time

 

Thanks for following my post with this and stealing my mojo. Just kidding. I don't know if I have the patience to get anywhere near as good as you. I'm also impressed with how clean your shop is. Well done.

 

thanks very helpfull information

 

I like the skateboard wheel idea, I like all of it really wish I had that much room.

 

what purpose do the different sized holes with what look like tubes serve in the english wheel frame?

 

First & foremost (& no offence meant) if you where a Rodder, you'd "get" the holes
We just love holes, they look COOL too! (light but strong) & that brings me to the 2nd point!

The welded tubes of the different sizes add a HEAP of extra strength.
They where fully welded inside before the frame was wrapped with 5mm plate (then they where also welded on the out side)
The main frame is made from 10mm...3/8" thick plate both sides, being 6" wide at the rear, tapering to 3" at the anvil mount, that too adds extra strength.

I have wheeled up to 1.6mm 'hot rolled' for some vintage truck fenders, no probs

 

i guess you are concerned with twisting and flexing?

not sure what you mean by "the frame was wrapped".

what kind of frame is inside the outside 5mm plates?

was this english wheel build from plans?

 

The main frame (the outside flat areas that form the "c" shape) are made of 10mm plate.
Once those frames where cut out with the holes in, I set it up on the welding bench (remembering the frame tappers from 6" at the rear to 3" at the anvil mount so the back that is 6" wide was sitting on the bench & the rest was blocked up. I tack welded the second side in mid air with some temporary bits of steel. This meant the centre line was the same distance off the bench so I could see if there was any warpage during the welding of the tubes).... there was none!
Then once the tubes where welded on the inside, I wrapped both the outside curved edges & the inside curved edge with 5mm plate (of course the inside one was a little harder to shape ) The outside one was dead easy, just wrapping & tacking it as I went. I welded those on & then also welded the outside of the tubes too.

The frame is hollow, but I only left it rough ground to make it 'appear' it is made from cast. I did debate if I should have made a fill point, to fill it with sand to make it heavier, but thats all it would have achieved & seeing as though I use to cart it interstate for our metal meets (some 8 hours away) I didn't bother making it any heavier. it's actually still sittingon it's dolly wheels from the last time I moved it & unless I'm using a lot of pressure, it hardly moves on them (plus it makes the wheel a little higher & easier to watch the shaping)

I came up with the design myself. I wanted it to look as good as it worked, though I believe a fellow metalshaper interstate is going to copy the design as he traced the size & shape at one of out last metal meets we had (I haven't heard if he has built it yet?)
I had considered using the off cuts from the centre of the 10mm plates to build another "mini wheel" using just 1" wide anvils, but I just don't have the time to do it at the moment. Maybe one day??

The Wheel is now used often in my business, as that is part of what I do as is other equipement I have made.

I hope I explained the build process a little better this time (if I had pics of the build I would post them, but I never thought to do that! )

 

thanks for the detailed explanation!

you tack welded and used an oxyacetylene torch to bend the plate as you went along? what tools did you use to push the hot plate into the shape you wanted? the 5mm plate used for the outside and the inside curved edges are each made from a single piece?

i tried to find a url for hoosier patern wheel & anvils but had no luck. do you happen to know it or how to get a hold of them?

 

This is the latest incarnation: http://hoosierprofiles.com/

 

I presume you are refering to the 5mm plate that wraps around the outside of the frame??
If so,
Yes, it was heated with an oxy & bent as I went. I heated it in such a way that it would not have any flat spots in it, just nicely curved all the way (well, as best as I could )
The inside of course was a litle tricky, so some guess work was needed & just trial & error to get it right
The other factor was to get the top mounting face for the adjuster & the anvil mounting face at 90 Deg. to each other. I must have fluked something there, cause they are perfect

You use to be able to buy the top wheel adjuster from Hoosier too, but I chose to make my own with adjustable nylon slides, but you will notice I did buy the Hoosier quick release top wheel holder. It is great, as I do not have to back off the pressure to check my work. I just pop the piece back in & I'm at the same pressure I was
Hoosier use to do custom offset wheels too, of which I had one done for a special reverse curve on some Buick running boards as customer wanted done, I kind wished I had bought more offset anvils, but I figured I was going to build the small wheel amyway, so I'd use that instead
Maybe I'll just see if I can still get some made.
Joe is the machinist there (I know him through the Metal Shapers forum etc) he is a Great bloke to deal with, espcially with custom kits.
Not cheap, but GREAT products

 

Awesome Thread!!!!

 

thank you!

 

Rods & Relics, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

 

Love all the E-wheels and power hammers in here. very new to shaping but know my way around a metal shop. welders, shears, brake, plasma cutter, forge. but never shaped metal cold. thinking about attempting a gas tank and some panels for my Honda motorcycle but not sure where to start. Do I need to make a wood form or what? what tools do I need? what tools would make it easier?

Also I understand what shrinking and stretching metal accomplishes but after reading all this still not sure "how" it happens.

thirdly thinking of making a wood lathe and was wondering if anyone out there had any thoughts on that. there's just no one out there that make one in the size or heavy duty-ness that I require. The wood I would like to be able to turn would require a hoist to mount. Let's put it that way.

 

So little time and so many tools to make or modify. Great ideas here.