I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize for all of the times in the past that I have said " how hard can that be " and any other shitty things I may have said or thought about your trade. I decided to clean up and paint my 60 F100. I had a few days with nothing pressing to do and it's been a while since this truck has been all the same color. Well, my few days are done. I managed to get each side of the bed almost ready for a final prime coat. I now understand why newer trucks have double wall beds on them. There must have been 200 warts ( for lack of a better term ) on each side of the bed from shit sliding around and hitting the sides. The first day, me being the thick headed ( how hard can it be ) knowitall that I am decided to reinvent the wheel yet again and attacked the bed with a 24oz smooth face frameing hammer ( I am a carpenter after all ) and a couple of sledge hammer heads for backers. My goal was to have no filler thicker than 1/16. At the end of the first day it honestly looked worse than when I started, I was bummed. The second day started with a 2 hour pre dawn HAMB crash course ( thank you HAMB ) on bodywork. By noon of the second day I had fixed all I had screwed up on the first day and had it ready for filler. I figgered that useing body filler had to be like floating a wall ( i am a pro sheetrocker/mud guy after all ) and I can make a wall with a 1/2" crack in it baby butt smooth so " how hard can this be ". High spots, low spots, thick spots, thin spots, too much sanding, not enough sanding, too much pressure, too little pressure, to coarse of paper, too fine of paper, temp too cold, temp too hot, block too hard, block too soft, too much hardener, too little hardener....... I found out that there is a boatload of shit that can go wrong trying to make a hunk of metal look flat. I worked on it till late afternoon and was liking what I was seeing until.....the sun shined on it. I had been working in the shade and when the late afternoon sun hit it it looked like my chickens had been dancing on it all day long, I was bummed. Day three started with a predawn HAMB crash course ( Thank you HAMB ) on the finer points of body finishing. I was so glad that all it needed was to keep filling and sanding, filling and sanding. By noon I had it so close to done I could smell it, so I primed it, looked good. I went in and had lunch, came back out to admire my work and something had happened...You could see every flat spot, bump, scratch, high spot, low spot that wasn't there before I went to lunch. I was bummed. A couple more hours of playing with it and it is really close to a final prime. I did learn a lot, I did excede my 1/16 filler goal, I have a few spots pushing 3/16. I was thinking the bed would be the hardest spot since it had the most damage but I could get to both sides easy. The rest of the truck is going to be interesting.
It takes more than a couple of days to get the feel of it. Just keep trying and you'll make it. I've been doing it for many years and I still don't get it flat on the first try.
If you can afford it, pay somebody else to do it. (As long as you know someone to do it right.) It's not something to take on if you don't have the proper skills. You can spend a TON of $$ and have something that's worse off than when you started. It's been said before, and someone ALWAYS gets pissed, but it takes a lot more to be a mechanic/bodyman than it does to be a carpenter and the hours and pay are a lot worse.
I finally got that eureka moment with filler the last dat of bodywork. Wish that came sooner but glad it didnt wait one more day,to never come.
That was a damn good read... And a reminder as to how much I fucking hate bodywork... Sent from a pay phone
Like any trade it takes years to be good, longer to be great. This project was/is a want to, not a need to, so no pressure, this makes learning to do it fun.
I've been doing bodywork for years. I got really good at it but I also learned to hate it. To the point that I refuse to work in a bodyshop anymore. It's just not worth the stress, aggravation and chemical exposure.
If I paid others to do what I can't, I'd be broke and bored. Learning/doing new things is what keeps me young. The last part of your statement is a bone to be picked another day. Just let me say this...You'd be amazed at what I can put together out of a tree trunk. Just as I am amazed as to what can be done to an engine or a custom body. It's all good
it's a love/hate thing. i went to school for it, got good at it. lost interest in it when everyone wants it done on the cheep. it ain't cheep. its hard work. ya gotta see through your hands to make it right. I will not do body work for anyone but me now. selfish, yes. I do good work for me. and that's as cheep as it gets. peace.
What's really bad is when a bodyman does drywall taping and mudding. You would think we were going to paint the walls gloss black! Apology accepted.
Just like any other trade, everyone thinks that they can do it. I tend to do most things myself, like remodeling and some of the other carpenter like tasks, but I'd rather do bodywork. I've always found it fun. I've been playing with sheet metal for almost 50 years though.
This is funny, the first time I did any sheet rock, I used my long board air sander. It created more dust than I've ever seen, and pissed off my wife. Over the years, I've developed a better way to do this stuff, but hate it.
I'm glad I started messing with bodywork when I was a kid, because I got a head start....yet 35 years later I still struggle.
That dust will find places you didn't know you had. I considered breaking out my 12" mud knife to skim the larger panels on my bed. If the putty didn't set up so fast I'd a done it.
That's the great thing about auto body. You can do something different every day of the week. Dis-assembly, welding, frame pulling, panel replacement, patches, hammer/dolly, filler, prime, paint, scuff and buff, final assembly. Never gets old. I do enjoy a post like this where someone realizes all of the skill and effort that goes into it. My girlfriend is always astonished at how much time I'll put into something to make it right. But as the old saying goes "Do it right the first time, or do it again."
I had a vocational auto body course in high school and a very good teacher, learned a ton. I still hate doing it! I hung sheetrock for a short time and did a couple of homes for myself. I still hate doing it! As far as I am concerned both those jobs were created to punish people that have done really bad things in a previous life!
I can appreciate your struggle. I hate body work and I'm shitty at it besides. I'm still a better body man that a carpenter though. Hell, you can always put metal back but once wood is wrong, it stays wrong.
Filler? whats that? seriously though I would rather beat metal than sand filler so I get everything as good a possible in the metal. David
Wait until he has to do bodywork on brackets.Flat and curved panels are one thing ,But round is another..........It just takes patience...In reference to the carpenter quote ,Wood can be peiced and glued also....Its all the same.Ive fiberglassed and sanded many boards and painted on my house.So far I got 2 years and still looks good....
Carpentry and Auto Body work are the only things I've done for a living, and carpentry is easier to impress people with, get paid and move on. No matter what I'm doing I know what perfection should be, RARELY am I allowed to take a project there. The customer is happy at the end but I often wonder what others that look at what I've "finished" think of it. Body work "is easy" to me, what really pisses me off is the Electrical Wizards here saying "wiring is simple", then getting into a 3-4 page argument over how to solve a problem. Bob
I started learning body work when I was 10, I'm 31 now... I love allmost everything about building/restoring cars except body work, esp doing a whole car/truck by myself... It probably took me a good 10 years to get good at it, and learn all the little tricks of the trade from variuos people I have worked with( and I am still learning )... funny thing is around that same time I started to hate it.. like Mindover said... I'd rather spend extra time straightening the steel than sanding body filler...keeps your shop cleaner too...
I build and paint (I'm no pro) my own cars and it is a lot of work but I would love to just do the body work all the time . After 33 years of being a carpenter it sure would be nice to work inside where it's nice and warm and dry and the wind chill isn't 30 below and ???? Oh well I'll stop now cause it's not going to happen. That's my rant for today. Rocky
Ha ha ha and all this time you thought it was easy. Just like all our other customers. I have to give you credit for sticking with it. I did bodywork for years and left it for fixing up houses. I have done my share of plastering and drywall too and believe me, the drywall and home repairs are WAY easier. Also less toxic and not as hard on your body. By the way those things on the box sides from junk banging around in the box are called "out dents".
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