Technical Fender "smoother" tool, aka "little english wheel." Actually useful?

I just picked up a pair of hand-held "fender smoother" mini english wheels.
One is medium-sized, or a little smaller, the second is much smaller.

Are these actually useful for anything?
And by that, I mean does anybody actually use them for fabrication in their shop? The one could have a curved wheel made and be clamped in the vise to fab small panels... in fact, I could see using exactly that to make a gas filler delete panel for '60-'66 Chevy trucks (I don't think there's one available aftermarket), but really, is that a long way to go?

I guess I'm wondering if they're worth keeping in the already-crowded shop.

-Brad

 

Pics

 

Like these?

 

Pretty cool tools !

 

Those things are sweet! I've never used one but it is my understanding that they are for repairs rather than fabrication. My guess is they weren't very good because they didn't catch on. But I bet there are a few guys out there that mastered using them and swore by them.

 

Looks like it'd be hard to use as designed, but could be useful for small parts if held in a bench vice.

 

One of us should try them out. You are closer than we are.

 

I bought a set this summer at an old timers auction, one English wheel style and one was a planishing hammer style. The guy that was bidding against me came over and talked to me later during the sale and said they work really good, he had a '32 ford truck with a dented fender repaired by an old bodyman, after he had hammer and dollied it close he pulled his set out and finished the metal to near perfection right on the truck. I haven't had time to play with them yet to see how well they work.

 

Ummmm, you and I need to talk Brad

 

All tools have a use or they wouldn't have been manufactured. That said I think I could grab a hammer and dolly and fix the dent faster than I could figure out how to get the thing up inside of a fender. Newer cars the metal is so thin it is sometimes easier to just replace the fender than chase low spots for hours.

 

Yeah, actually they look EXACTLY like those... well, like those would look if they'd been put in the upstairs storage of a Chevy parts dealer and forgotten for 60 years.
But yeah, those are them!

-Brad

 

But the only purpose of some tools are to fool people out of their hard earned money. They don't have to actually work to do that.

 

Old thread but I’ve been searching for a set of these if anyone knows where I could pick some up

 

they work good on Schwinn bike finders