Baileigh Tech~~ Shaping metal with basic tools

Johnny you're threads have been a big help in getting me started with shaping. I made a bat hammer and starting fooling around with some aluminum that I wanted to turn into a fan shroud. I've got an attic above the shop, which then butts up next to the master. It gets quite loud inside the bedroom, moreso then outside. It drove my wife insane (who is very supportive and enthusiastic about what I do, she's not just hassling me). Are there hammers with another material that are quieter? haha, it sounds silly, but if I can find a plastic or dense rubber hammer that will do the trick I'll give it a shot. I was pounding on a small shot bag and then moving the panel onto a wood topped work bench to clean up the wrinkle.

If not, then I'm going to give a power hammer a shot. Otherwise, I'll have to give her some cash and send her shopping when I want to pound it out.

I made some good progress though, don't know how well it would come out if I keep on it, but it's starting to look like what I want, and I intend to find out how far it will go.

Again, thanks for sharing what you know with your threads, excellently written and demo'ed. Very educational.

 

My hammer has UHMW heads on it but I don't think it would be any quieter then your baseball bat hammer. I wish I could do a test but I can't because I gave away my baseball bat hammer away.

I was at good guys and met a vendor there (Gully tools) he had a hard rubber tear drop mallet. I do not normally recommend tear drop hammers but this one had a large metal rod in it.

So I think it would be heavy enough and hard enough to smash out tucks. I also would think it would cut down on the noise. I was going to buy one but it ended up being a expensive weekend.

I tried a piston hammer and I thought it would work but it would not smash out the tucks.

I would recommend that you learn how to shape the metal by hand first before moving on to power hammers. This will give you a understanding on how the metal reacts in a slower fashion. Pullmaxs or power hammers move metal very fast and you could end up with a lot of scrap really fast.

Plus you think your stump is loud wait until your wife hears a power hammer fire up

How is the stump working for you? Do you like it?

 

I found the link http://www.gulleyperformancecenter.com/

I think all three of them would be useful but the big one is the one I think would be great for stump shrinking.

Click on... Dead Blow Hammers

They are the Dead Blow bossing mallets

 

Excellent, I'll have to try ordering one. Thanks for looking that up. I really didn't get a lot of time in on the panel until she came out and begged for me to stop, but i got a rough shape in on 3/4 of it. Im using an ultra thin electric fan, so the shroud goes from the edge of the radiator in and then about 2" from the fan starts tapering out towards the engine another 2", then back parallel with the radiator surface to the edge of the fan. Seems ambitious, i should make a few bowls or something first, but I was having fun with it and look forward to honing the craft. When i had to put it on hold i started fiddling on an e wheel i bought that needed a little work to finish it up.

Thanks again, and looking forward to more threads and write-ups from you

 

I don't know about the dead blow shaping mallets, but there isn't a lot of volume difference between a baseball bat hammer and the UHMW heads or even a steel hammer when doing bag work. Get a dollie involved and the steel hammer makes a bunch of noise.

If you're looking for quiet, a power hammer ain't gonna cut it! Neither is a planishing hammer.

Tim D.

 

I'll have to see what I can come up with, I was having a ball the short time I got to do it. It's always great when you try a new skill and can start seeing results