I know there is another thread somewhere on this topic, but I could not find it by searching
this Youtube shows how to hand form a flanged & curved section for a sill corner or similar
This fellow has a few vids I have seen before.
In this one he is slow to the issue, but his method is intriguing
As Saloon owners, many of us do not have “repair section” options, so hand forming needs to be learned
Great video. I have watched a couple of his episodes but hadn’t seen this one. Learned a lot. Creating that lip on a curved edge is a tough one. I had resorted to cutting some triangular slots to allow for the shrinkage then welding them up.
One thing I have had to make, and another to do
a very common problem is the wheel arch corners, front & rear,
inner & outer, flanged, spot welded…both rusted
One tip is to use is cut of another vehicles same section and modify
I have formed the flange by hammering it around various old engine parts,
but the way his methodology in welding on the bars etc, makes everything more accurate
I have to do the front PS (rear) wheel arch corner again, after about 15yrs, I just patched it up last time, want to make a perfect inner & outer, and butt weld them in (better than) a pro
dont know any pro body guys that can hand form properly anymore, since my mate retired, 40yrs a body shop owner, he was surprised some of the things I have been able to do
Very good, thanks for posting this.
I will use those techniques for making some patch panels on my '38 SS.
I figured out that guy is not American, as although I understood most of it, he used an occasional expression which I did not understand; so what country is he in?
Mrs stated that she believes he has a strong regional English accent, colored by an American accent, similar to Richard Branson. I agree
here is another one of his
the other thread was about David Gardiner, if I can find it, will link it in.
There is just no way to learn this stuff without being shown imo, its just not intuitive
without untold practice (after 1st being shown how)
The guy I tried to learn from kept saying “Stop thinking the metal is a solid. You don’t need to hit it that hard!”.
I’m not a body man at all - if you give me a panel with a couple of door dings I can make it look like it’s been in a rollover… it takes me a few days though.
I found forming the complex repairs in the inner wheel arches impossible in one piece. If I used 8-9mm steel as used on the outer body panels it could be done I guess. Still tricky and not as robust. Using the thicker steel ( I have 1.1-1.2mm available) needed for inner required making it in parts.
Here is the sequence. Would have liked to but weld to keep the backside clean but couldn’t always. Will have to rely on copious amounts of cavity wax.
His accent is West Country - probably Gloucestershire/Avon area. His fixtures are the key. If you have a heavy enough former, every blow goes into the tightly-clamped workpiece and the variables are the strength/direction of the blows, which you control. If the fixture or clamping are not heavy enough, some of the energy goes into wasted variable movement and springback and you have less predictability or control over what each blow will actually do to the workpiece - hence crummy results.
One of the oddest tools I took from Dad’s workshop when he died was a foot-long slice of railway line, polished on top and with one end cut to a long point. A poor man’s anvil. Hardly gets used, but when it does it’s brilliant.
This guy has a lot of good Youtubes, and at first I thought he was a bit rough, but in this one he demonstrates he is an artisan in sheet metal
