Hey Guys, I am about to get an English wheel to fabricate the unsaveable rusted out quarter panels on my 49 Merc. I have been comparing just about every company that sells them (Eastwood, Lazze, Wheeling Machines, Harbour Freights, ect ect). My question is, the prices ranges from $750 to $5000 and besides a few bells and whistles the decriptions all say pretty much the same thing. Now I know that the higher end ones are most likely better fabricated, but the reviews on the cheaper ones are not just decent, but really good. So can someone give me some advise on what I should be focusing on? I don't want to spend $5000 when I can get them same thing for $750 to $2000. HELP!!!
Go join up at WWW.Metalmeet.com and do some searching. If you decide to build a frame there is some good reading there. I have 3 wheel frames now. Jeff
That's a good point, I never thought of building the frame. And now that I think about it, I guess I could. But getting the whole tool complete without any work would expedite the process, so I just want the get a ready to go, complete and functional EW
I would say it really depends on your skill level with and english wheel. If you are a master with one your could probably do great with a 5oo dollar one . If you have no skill at all with one the 100000 dollar one is not going to make the panels for you,
Hi Dave, Well that's really the question, I can mold and bend metal the way I want, except if it has compound curves (3D curves). I have no experience with an English Wheel, hence my question.
Experience is a hard teacher....It gives the test first and the lesson second. I think what is being said is, start with what fits your pocket book and get something better as you get better. I am sure that is not always true but I think it applies here.
With a tool like an english wheel where tolerances in the machining of the wheels and the stiffness of the frame are crucial i think starting with a good piece of equipment will get you a lot further than some harbor freight piece of shit.
I've made a lot of good quality stuff with my Harbor Freight piece of shit. I got it on sale for $199, and bought the extra fell set of different compund wheels for another $99 if I rememeber right. The thought was; if the frame isn't strong enough, I'll brace it or make a new one out of heavier duty material with a larger throat. So far I haven't had any trouble out of it. I have formed pieces up to 16ga. with it. It's by no means perfect. The wheels are very good quality, but the frame does slightly flex under a good load. A good point was made above. You can do good work with a lesser expensive unit, but a larger more rigid unit will work considerably better. However, $5000 ain't gonna make you a body man. Whatever you decide, just go for it!
Imperial wheeling machines I bought one Excellent built by a guy who is creating his own automobile body hes a HAMBer
i have a Metal Ace english wheel , im very happy with with it and what i have made on it....but i am certainly no expert with it http://www.englishwheels.net/1.html?sm=33189
I paid $179 for the $299 floor model at Harbor Freight and got the $99 8 pack of extra dies for $79.It is the yellow one with stand.Used it to make a rear inner fender for a 62 Porsche out of (20) gauge and it worked great.You just have to watch what you buy from them..Good Luck
I've got an Imperial Wheel by Kerry Pinkerton...very nice machine at a very good price. I started out with a benchtop one, probably a bit better than the HF one, made by Tools Plus, or someone similar. While I thought that it did a good job, when I got the Imperial,,,,,well, I guess a horse drawn carriage is good, up until you've driven a car! All good wheels have great machinework, and a VERY sturdy frame. That is what makes them do precise, predictable, and reliable!
Plus the teflon or plastic or whatever it is to help it slide, yet be adjustable to take up slack as it wears. Thats Quality!
I am not a big fan of Harbor Freight but we needed a English Wheel to do a roof panel in a 34 Chevy and saw a thread on the Hamb a while back about them and figured it's cheap enough and gave it a shot. I will point out that We had no experience with using the English Wheel and it was fly be the seat of our pants learning as we went,, 20 gauge was used to form the top and it turned out ok,,not beautiful but ok,,, The Wheel was used to make the transmission tunnel and with practice there is improvement,, This is the hf wheel we used,,I'm sure there is better quality built tools out there,,this is just what worked when we needed one and didn't have the funds for a nicer one. I have ordered a couple of videos that will help teach me the basics,,work should improve after a lot more practice! HRP
let me preface this by saying I respect your interest in learning how to use a new tool, and respect your desire to fix something yourself.. however.. I must say.. that I think someone reproduces those merc quarters now? and personally, I'd spend money on those, rather than a ewheel.. for what its worth.. I have a ewheel.. that I made myself.. and I have used a bunch of different wheels, I even attended a metalmeet even and have used kerry's and several others.. they are neat tools that I teach my students to use but like any other tool it takes time to learn to use.. they can provide awesome results, but i am more interested in efficiency.. I use my home brewed ehweel when I need to, but largely I'd rather find other ways.. because using it takes time, something that I have less and less of.. long ago.. I had a 49 Lincoln like your merc.. and I fixed the lower quarters. with an ewheel.. If I could have, I would have bought repop parts.. imagine this: you've finished the car, and your telling someone "look at those quarters I made.. it took "20" (or whatever number of hours) to fix those quarter panels, but I could have just bought them.." anymore, I dont get the same "pride" out of making something that's readily available.
Syrous, check it out. http://www.allmetalshaping.com/showthread.php?t=56 http://www.allmetalshaping.com/forumdisplay.php?f=27 Good luck, Slim
Havi-- here you go. http://imperialwheelingmachines.com/ Just don't get the one from Northern Tool (I'm referring to their own brand version, not the Metal Ace one they used to sell). I got one and it was way out of square and some of the seams weren't even welded (even though they were welded in the picture on the web site). The wheels aren't too bad, but I didn't even finish unpacking the one I got before I put it back in the truck and took it back to the store. To Northern's credit, they gave me a full refund with little hassle.
I know that I can buy them from Sherman for $895 each, but that isn't really the point, I want to learn how to use one and increase my fabrication skills.
I built mine very similiar to Kerry Pinkerton's and he actually helped me a great deal on building it via the website. I even have the build thread here that I posted the other week. You can build this without using the cut plates like I did. Kerry is very good a what he does. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=384078
I would say you would be better served with an Imperial wheel with a set of Hoosier wheels and anvils than trying to do it the cheap way. I built mine with Kerry's as an inspiration. I have drooled over (and used) Kerry's wheels for about 5 years now. However, I'm usually broke and more of a DIY type of guy. My wheel uses a Harbor Freight 8" upper and Hoosier lower wheels - $30 for the 8"x2" HF upper and $300 for the Hoosier anvils. Tim D.
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