|
|
Jul 13, 2018 22:10:40 GMT
|
I'm an absolute beginner when it comes to fabricating repair panels but am keen to give it a go. Sadly not made of money, so I wonder if any of you more experienced peeps could advise me on what tools I need/should get?
I already have an angry grinder and an as-yet unused MIG welder but nothing else really relevant to this kind of work. Say you had an initial budget of £200 or so, what would you buy to get started with?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 14, 2018 11:06:19 GMT
|
A dirt cheap panel beating set, different hammers and lumps of metal called dollies. Should not be more than £30 ish on Amazon or eBay. A 6 inch size vice bolted to a sturdy bench. You need to be able to hold the metal when you shape it. Perhaps a cheap sheet metal bender which fits in the vice, that's maybe up to £50. Cheap stuff - a metal Scriber which scores the metal with a line. Ruler, marker pen. Automatic centre punch for making a mark before you drill a hole. Get some good quality tin snips as well. Often you don't need yo use a grinder and it's easier and cleaner to use snips which are basically big metal scissors! Also hoard any bits of wood you can as these are invaluable. You can cut them to a shape you want a bend or dress the metal around it with a hammer to shape it.
That should be more than enough to get started and will leave you with money left over.
|
|
|
|
Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,712
Club RR Member Number: 34
|
|
Jul 14, 2018 11:34:34 GMT
|
I do it professionally, and as well as the basic hammers and dollies etc. one of the best 'make do' tools is a 12-18" long piece of RSJ with the ends cut square, one end left with square corners and the other end the corners rounded off. It's great as a basic anvil for making and tweaking shapes, and usually much quicker than other methods. It'll be heavy enough you won't actually need to bolt it down to the bench, so can turn it round and lay it down, etc. Add a length of 1" box section, and a Length of steel strip about 20-25mm wide and 3-4mm thick, plus a few G-clamps or welding grips and a blunt chisel for chasing, and you can make some pretty sophisticated shapes that you'd usually need a bead roller and a box and pan brake for. I have all the big expensive gear but I often still end up using this setup on various small bits as it's quicker than setting up the big machines or remachining bead roller dies. It'll probably be better for your needs than a small metal folder.
For doing curves or dishes, various size bits of thick wall tube welded to bits of angle or box so they clamp up solidly in the vice are great. Add a small cheap sandbag (£30ish) and there isn't much you can't make without some practice and patience.
Also, don't be afraid to modify the tools you have to suit your needs. Taking the flapwheel to hammers and dollies to change the curvature or soften the edges so they don't mark is perfectly acceptable, yet some people seem to think it's a heanous crime. They're wrong.
|
|
Last Edit: Jul 14, 2018 11:35:58 GMT by Dez
|
|
dazcapri
North East
Enter your message here...
Posts: 1,056
|
|
Jul 14, 2018 15:34:01 GMT
|
Check out the making panels thread on here for the tonybmw homemade metal bender
|
|
Mk3 Capri LS
|
|
|
|
Jul 14, 2018 17:19:52 GMT
|
Yes, I was just about to post a link to that thread: forum.retro-rides.org/thread/70135/panelsI've grabbed all sorts of bits off scrap piles because they might be handy to shape things around, as Dez said above. Beware of the very cheap panel-beating hammer sets you can get - I started with one of those, and two of the hammer heads broke off, that is, the castings snapped, not the handles.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 14, 2018 17:27:59 GMT
|
Thanks for the tips guys! I know this must seem like stupidly basic stuff to you, but we all have to start somewhere. How about this panel beating set? A 6" vice is pretty pricey; would this 4" one be OK? Are Stanley tin snips like these any good? Something like this for a makeshift anvil perhaps? What size would you recommend? And how about this for a suitable sand bag?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 14, 2018 17:57:12 GMT
|
An even cheaper way of bending metal if you cant stretch to a sheet bender is to get some good lengths of wood to put in a vice if you want a soft bend, 2 lengths of good sturdy angle section if you want sharper bends
As for vices definately get yourself a good used record I made the mistake on my first vice of going for a new one but that was made of chinese monkey metal and I snapped it, replaced it with a nice old record and it's not even let as much as a groan out.
You will get a lot of the stuff done with hammers and dollies
|
|
Last Edit: Jul 14, 2018 17:59:53 GMT by fordperv
|
|
|
|
Jul 14, 2018 18:10:01 GMT
|
Yep, I thought I'd go with a Record vice. I've used them before at work and always thought they were sturdy, good quality items.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 14, 2018 18:21:35 GMT
|
Yeah , its worth looking on gumtree and facebook market place for vices , you will be likely to pick up a better quality secondhand one than buying new .
Record by the way is basically the standard . Good quality vices that last .
TBH there are so many cheap generic panel beatings sets that unless you know someone who has had exactly the same you will not know if its going to break . I would get it , your just starting out so it would be a waste to start recommending £50 individual hammers etc .
Tin snips are fine .
Lump of metal is very big and substantial , should be good although again worth checking facebook , gumtree or even a scrap ayrd or local engineering shop if you want .
Sandbag ... mmm I'm not sure you will need one yet but if you want to spend the cash they are all about the same price .
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 14, 2018 18:47:51 GMT
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 14, 2018 18:55:33 GMT
|
I use gilbows and a three piece set just because you get better straight cuts with gilbows but the 3 piece set means you can cut curves .
Horses for courses , if you can get a set of gilbows in your budget go for them .
|
|
|
|
Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,712
Club RR Member Number: 34
|
|
Jul 14, 2018 18:59:25 GMT
|
Search for a stakeseys sandbag, much cheaper and good quality.
Other vice brands can be as good and much cheaper as they don't have the record name. Paramo and woden are both good. If you're anywhere near Essex I've got a spare or two I need to sell.
|
|
|
|
Wilk
Part of things
Posts: 528
|
|
Jul 14, 2018 19:48:31 GMT
|
I went down the local scrap yard and bought several lengths of tube in various diameters from 2" scaf bar to 6" heating pipe. Great for bending sheet steel over in various radius. Cost a couple of quid Also grab a couple of bits of alu that can be used as heat sinks at the rear of thin panels
|
|
If it can be fixed with a hammer, then it must be an electrical fault
|
|
Wilk
Part of things
Posts: 528
|
|
Jul 14, 2018 20:20:47 GMT
|
Search for a stakeseys sandbag, much cheaper and good quality. Other vice brands can be as good and much cheaper as they don't have the record name. Paramo and woden are both good. If you're anywhere near Essex I've got a spare or two I need to sell. Facebook market place is good for local tools including vices 👍
|
|
If it can be fixed with a hammer, then it must be an electrical fault
|
|
|
|
Jul 15, 2018 17:59:13 GMT
|
For panel hammers and dollys try boot sales they can be picked up for 50p or £1, old ones are better and sellers don't usually know what those funny hammers are worth. Yes, I got a couple of nice panel beating hammers with glassfibre handles from a stall for 50p each, a bit rusty but that cleaned off with citric acid. £20+ each new.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If you are local I have a few vices I was going to put in the sales section, all record or parkinson etc. I use Whitehouse hammers I have picked up over the years and never paid more than a couple of pounds at car boots etc. Sykes also made good hammers but I suspect they just bought them in re branded
|
|
It will come in handy even if you never use it
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks for the tips guys! I know this must seem like stupidly basic stuff to you, but we all have to start somewhere. How about this panel beating set? A 6" vice is pretty pricey; would this 4" one be OK? Are Stanley tin snips like these any good? Something like this for a makeshift anvil perhaps? What size would you recommend? And how about this for a suitable sand bag? The vice you have shown would do but keep looking as you may find a bigger one? In general record vices with two digits in the number are the best and the older ones have a dome on the end of the shaft that you turn to tighten these are better quality steel. Ebay isn't the best place to buy a vice as they tend to be more expensive, Gum tree, Farcebok etc. Fortis stopped making vices around the time of the war, they are not as well finished as Record but a fantastic vice my own is about 80 years old! York is a Checkslovakian ( Spelling?) made vice thats excellent but cost more used on Ebay than they are new? Hammers. Try a local flea market as often dealers have a bucket of hammers for a few quid each, but a set would get you up and running, I have about 10 but use the same on most of the time! The RSj,local scrappy or the Ebay link. I was lucky winch boy came back from the car boot yesterday with an Anvil he bought me for £10!, he is a big lad but struggled to get it in the car. Its worth chatting to a local fabrication company as they will sell you off cuts and might fold stuff for you to save buying a folder, I made my first one but it went walks at work then bought a used one
|
|
Last Edit: Jul 16, 2018 6:32:51 GMT by winchman
It will come in handy even if you never use it
|
|
|
|
|
In the current edition (August) of 'Practical Classics' Theo Gillam has done an article on 'How to make your own metal shaping tools' pages 130 - 132 which explains with detail / images of undertaking the task and on a small budget - so for the cost of a magazine you have all the info along with all the info above that various members have listed - I also undertake classic fabrication / restoration professionally and work with simple tools whilst some expensive equipment would speed the process up slightly - I much prefer to work has I do with the old school methods
|
|
Last Edit: Jul 16, 2018 7:56:27 GMT by Deleted
|
|
|
|
Jul 16, 2018 13:19:08 GMT
|
My flat doll was gas cut and ground from a 1" thick sheet of steel, works fine and was free
|
|
It will come in handy even if you never use it
|
|
|
|
Jul 16, 2018 19:06:17 GMT
|
Machine mart sell a small anvil. Very handy in many, many ways. I love mine.
|
|
|
|
|