Let's see some sheet metal shaping

Looks good to me, think what you could do with some big equipment ..

 

Thank you, I think about that all the time..

 

I would love to afford some nice tools, but I couldn't even swing an new bead roller to be able to buy the die set I needed, so I had to make my own. It came out pretty close

 

Had a short break from the wagon as we were cleaning up for this years metalshaping class at the shop that was held a couple weeks ago.


Our guest instructor this year was Pat Brubaker of Custom Rides in Hastings Nebraska. We focused on minimal tools this year. A largely forgotten tool that is (was) seen in many shops is the arbor press. Pat has developed a die set to use in the arbor press that makes it an invaluable tool to have in your metalshaping arsenal.







This video shows tuck shrinking, much the same as using the stump, but here using less impact for less stress added to the panel..





Pete Hagan brought some 2002 BMW front fenders to practice with, one having a noticeable dent in the front..





Here we match up one of the dies to match the crown of the rear of the fender, and try our hand at removing a dent using the arbor press.





It did a good job of removing the majority of the damage, and more importantly, without adding any more stretch. Minimal work at this point would have this ready for paint.


We also discussed various pattern techniques, and the benefits realized with each one. One of the class participants, Laser with a Z, had brought a 1961 Impala front valance to duplicate, as it had many rust issues.





Some of the rust issues were filled with clay in order to get a more accurate pattern.


Flexible shape patterns show better the amount of shape in the panel, and paper patterns were used to get an accurate read on panel material size.








The replacement panel was made in two pieces and welded together. Laser did a nice job of welding, note the consistent width in the HAZ for minimal distortion..





Comparison:





Jake's project for the class was a replacement for our practice fan shroud from last month.. The rear edge was unfinished, so we aimed to fix that, and also make it out of aluminum to better match the radiator.





To finish off the rear edge, we chose to add a bead to the edge and a hemmed flange to close it off, keeping the hem flat so as not to interfere with the fan.





The beads were added, flanges tipped to attach to the baffle panel, and the linear stretch dies in the Lennox used to stretch the correct outer radius.








We attempted various welding methods to attach the shroud to the baffle plates. The spot welder lacked the balls to make the welds, and TIG spot welds or weld passes seemed to add more distortion to our practice pieces than the precise circle we had rolled would tolerate. So we used some stainless hardware and nylock nuts to hold the parts together..





Here are some videos of the installed shroud..








Some of the tips and tricks shared at the class, here is a table "extension" for a band saw to permit cutting of crowned panels SAFELY..





Charlie has been to our class three years in a row, and he is a pretty sharp cookie. Like some of us and getting older, he has the unfortunate issue of arthritis in his hands, and finds difficulty in using hand snips. In much the same fashion as the Beverly shears, Charlie modified a pair of right angle Midwest shears to use a handle for easier operation..








Action video:





Material capacity stays the same, operation just becomes a bit easier, especially for those with arthritis conditions..

 

I am building rear fenders for my 31 coupster on a 32 frame. Here is a link to the build thread https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/model-a-coupster-on-32-rails-updated.335443/

 

35 truck door skin lost in the H.A.M.B. Crash.


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Like many others I didn't have the money for a pullmax, so I bought what I could for scrap steel off of Craigslist and drops from the local steel place. A used air conditioning motor. Splurged for laser cutting and ended up with a sub $1800 machine.




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I saw it, and When I asked for 2 of them door skins was Probably lost in the crash too.

 

Thats awesome!! I have always wanted to build a reciprocating machine. I do not know why i am so intimidated by the build. I have built lots of CP hammers from scratch. Hats off man great job.

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Thanks Nate, was a big fan of your cp hammers. Glad to see you’re still making panels here and there. Lovin your build.


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The firewall was rough in this project and I'm replacing it with some new metal. This is what it looked like. I've made a new front frame clip but need to deal with firewall and inner fenders before welding the new frame in.
Heres the new frame clip and radiator core support.
I cut out the roughest part of the firewall and left as much of the original as possible, I'm doing the upper section first. The tranny will have to be mocked up to get the lower section and toe boards.
I cut out a piece of 18ga, matched the bead roll features, bent it to match the existing. The hat channel running along the bottom gave me a fit until I found out it was taller on the bottom than the top, I had measured just the top leg and after screwing two of them up I discovered what was going on. Once I realized there were two different leg lengths I looked the car over ad found many other places where they did the same. I tackwelded the hat channel to the firewall blank closely following the original. This car will have power brakes so I added an inside reinforcement and pads on the outside to mount the booster.
The hood hinge is a problem, I really wanted the brake pedal, booster etc further to the left and this was as far as I could go. I mocked the booster up with the hinge and measured the interferance then made .4050 pads to space the booster out and welded them into the firewall. Here's the booster with the pads and hinge. I took a punch and punched little holes at the top of the panel, I'll weld thru these holes and mimick a tack weld. My tack welder won't get into the small space at the top.
I also added straps to mount the fuse panel, a small Ron Francis piece, the straps are drilled and tapped for 6-32 to mount the panel. I punched a hole to run wires into the hat channel and will is it as an electrical gutter, wires will come out at the back of the engine and that hole in the left face is for the front harness that will come out an drun along the inner fender when it gets made.
I also made the brake pedal mount with 3 different possible pivot points for the brake pedal. The 1st pic shows the pedal mount with the shoulder bolt & plug that the pedal will weld to, to the left on the other side of the hinge is a piece of the strap to mount the fuse panel.

I'm just getting a feel for the fit, more trimming is necessary but it's close, I'll be welding it in tomorrow. You got to feel good when it fits that good with just a few clamps.

 

Lookin good OJ. Really starting to come together

 

Very inspiring.

 

Had to recreate curved drip rail for a early ford truck they didnt repop it for. Quite the challenge.

 

Good job on the drip rail ..

 

Did the last floor pan for my Tudor. Turned up a radius around the shifter hole . Used a little dolly made out of a couple of machines drifts .

 

Hasty, nice work on your home built reciprocating hammer. Nice design and execution. I have started on one for myself and your design looks like you did a great job. I too am looking at using a knuckle style mechanism.

Just wanted to give you a shout out as it seemed to get looked over, lots of work there.

Lynn


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Played with my beadroller today and got two more panels done in my Tudor . This is not a seat but a shelf for whatever , and cover for battery and toolbox . Will have a hinged top with wood strips on Al. to protect the top from ice chest or anything that might scratch it . Only have about a dozen more panels till the interior is done . Blue

 

Very impressive work

 

Nice work on the bead roller... skateboard wheel on the lower?

 

Robert , the diamonds are done with art rolls from Mittler that I really cranked down . The Circles are done on a punch and dimple dies with the cutter taken out . You can’t go too deep or it will break out any way . Blue

 

You make it look easy

 

I like it!

 

Made a new tool Tuesday night, this is inspired by the bench mount shear that you saw at our last metal shaping class at the shop, made by Charlie Cerutti. This mimics the Beverly Shear on a much smaller scale, and for those who have arthritis issues and find difficulty in the squeezing process of using hand snips, this could prove invaluable.


This was made using two (right and left hand cut) pair of 90* Midwest shears. First step is to remove handle covers, a utility knife makes short work of it.. Then the handle toward the jaws is trimmed off, as shown in the picture. A one inch diameter tube is used as the pull handle, welded onto the remaining handle of the shears. 5/8 round stick is used for the cross piece and upright supports, and an angle provides the base for clamping (for portability) or screwing to the front edge of your workbench.
























Here shown fully assembled:









.....and here in operation...








The intent here is not to increase capacity by adding more leverage, I would still recommend adhering to manufacturer's recommendations. This is merely another tool that may make the job easier..

 

Genius!

 

Perfect.

 

Somehow I missed all the good stuff here since November!

 

Great stuff, I am making the "mini double Beverly shears" today. I see a propane torch on the bench up there- what for? I have heard about using propane or even a heat gun on sheet metal forming- how are they used?