bearmtnmartin wrote: good thread here about homemade tools http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=235784
I like the HAMB...lots of good stuff there, but if I go there I tend to lurk...I'm not too concerned with period correctness, and they're likely to my car (with parts from 1982) as being blasphemous. Lots of good craftsmanship there, though....especially that guy (john???) from GhiaSpecialties.
44Dwarf wrote: .040 aluminum...no I'm not kidding. It might have been tweaked from the shipping don't really know at this point i don't care i don't need it right now.
Yeah, I bet yours was defective. (Not uncommon...my shrinker stretcher was shipped missing springs for the jaws) I'm saying that because this was 0.05 steel.
SkinnyG wrote: I've only ever used a French Wheel. It looks just like an English Wheel, only you use a lot of French with it.
You have to watch those - they steal your thumbnails.
I got a shrinker/stretcher combo from the HF to help with box flares and it seems to work pretty well. I have nothing to compare it to - but having zero experience I was able to make a decent smooth radius on the 3rd try with some 20ga steel sheet.
I am going to try to whip up some dimple dies on the lathe one of these days - I need to make some light/strong gussets and the "real" dies are pretty expensive once you get to wanting more than one size.
I've used my lathe to make some forming bucks and dies out of HF trailer hitch balls.
Cheaper and easier than getting round stock.
sigh
"French Wheel" was supposed to be a joke.
Can we get back on topic, and not turn this into something political?
SkinnyG wrote: *sigh* "French Wheel" was supposed to be a joke. Can we get back on topic, and not turn this into something political?
Nobody has mentioned the shrinking disk or the shrinking stump. Both inexpensive and effective tools.
If you are going to shape alloy, you need a torch to heat it up and anneal as it work hardens.
Palm nailers are useful for working out bumps and shapes from areas where there is no room to swing a hammer.
Pro-French? I'm pretty sure it's just the one guy.....
In reply to 1988RedT2:
I'm pro-French, but I'd rather talk about metal forming right now if that's all right.
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