Just wondering where you guys buy the good body hammers, dollies, sand bags etc. I know all tools are not created equally. I like to buy one time when buying tools, so who makes the best?
most of my body hammers are from snap on or body shop trade shows. I like to hold them and see how the feel before I buy them
I buy quality ones, but from different sources. I really like Martin hammers, but Snap-on makes some different ones, great quality as well. I've found unusual ones at swap meets, names like Peddinghaus, Fairmont (now Martin?) Even old ones can be blasted, painted, and surface polished to work like new. Covell, Fournier, Eastwood for planishing , bossing hammers, sandbags. One of the HAMBers makes bags (dondanno?). Just avoid the cheapo Chinese ****!
Martin is good. http://www.martinsprocket.com/body.htm The Chinese **** hurts just to look at,never mind try and use.
I met a guy at Pate swap meet that was selling really good hammers and dollies but I forget the name. I should have bought em when I had the chance. Nice stuff.
that's the exact quetion i have!!! i go to other's shops and see all these cool OLD machines.......where in the world do they/you get them.... i can sniff out old cars and chase them down, but i never come across old machines... thanks for asking!!! can't wait to see some replys... i'll be it's top secret and they'll have to kill us...
I got my 60 year old south bend lathe at a neighbor's yard sale. I got my (unused at the time) Mac body tools at a second hand store years ago. My dad bought me my first Proto body hammer and dolly at a local auto part store sometime in the 70s. They show up at swap meets, on ebay, and ($$$) new and sometimes used on tool trucks. You just gotta keep your eyes and ears open. Although it seems the good stuff is not around like it used to be, since ebay came along.
I don't have a link but do a search for Gulley Performance. He sells a full line of boby and metal shaping tools. He's at a lot of bigger shows and never runs out of patience letting you get touchie-feelie and he also works metal so he can answer yoyr questions. Also go to Metalmeet.com or Metalshapers, both are great forums. Snap-on are ready to use right off the truck but Mac and most others need to be m***aged some. As you learn more you'll understand.
AS already said Dondanno here on the HAMB makes some REALLY nice shot bags. He has several sizes and I'd recommend a large and whatever size fits your needs for a smaller one. He also has a really small one that you can pack really full of shot and use as a hand held dolly for planishing or as a backup for final shaping. Also I've tried both sand and no. 9 shot for filling the bags and my preference is for the shot. It just lets the metal move easier IMO. As far as hammers I've got a collection from all over. I've found them at garage sales, swap meets and auctions. You can take abused ones and bring them back to life with new handles and polishing the heads on a belt sander. One caution. Don't pick up a piece of sheet metal and hit it with a hammer, it will ruin you. I wish I were 19 years old again and just starting out. I really believe if I were I'd persue the metalshaping trade, it's just that addictive. Frank
I don't know about that...I started doing a little bit of bodywork when I was 16, and 28 years later I still don't really enjoy it....it's just another thing that needs to be done.
Body hammers and dollies are NOT in-of-themselves anything special. If you get good enough where they start to matter you will be modifying them to your particular likes/dislikes anyways. With that said buying a elcheapo CAST hammer and or dolly makes NO SENSE to me. With that said I hit the swap meets, garage sales and flea markets and grab any "good stuff" that I see. Cast dollies may be less risk than a cast hammer but niether will take a nice polish - it's the fine porosity (like pitting) that seems to prevent that mirror polish that you often desire. I have one cast dolly - junk. Many of the rest LOOK like junk when I got them but were "diamonds in the rough" - some pretty well rusted. I polished them right back to a mirror (in some cases) and since I only paid a buck or two that seemed worth it to me. Proto, Plomb, Fairmount, Strap On - I don't much care so long as they're CHEAP and FORGED!!!!!! One of my favorites is a 2/3 sized pick hammer - no idea who made it - probably paid a buck for it - it's a sweetie. AS for machines/equipment - HIT the USED MACHINERY equipment places. I have even seen fellas pull a treasure or two from the S**** YARD. I am so close to CLEVELAND (a manufacturing meca) that USED equipment is like USED CARS around here - lots to pick from IF you know where to look. Don't forget Ebay - sometimes the cost of shipping will deter the high rollers - could be in your back yard giving you an advantage. Don't forget the local Machine Shops - stop in one and talk with them - THEY ALWAYS get the machinery auction notices - plus they also knwo all the local places to buy machinery. A box of doughnuts might yield all sorts of tidbits of knowledge. Here's a pic of the PROOF that I NEED HELP - 4,400 POUNDS of machinery - 480 V 3 phase - hubba hubba hubba. This bad boy will shake the ground!!!
I use snap-on hammers, I like the feel. Others may be as good I just found snap-on to my liking. Bags, I made my own from vinyl top material filled with sand, back in the 80's. A friend of mine allways marvaled at my work with my favorite hammer. Ask to borrow it once to knock some dents out of a valve cover. Gave it back and said "Must not be the hammer!"
I know its been said, but I cant express how much I like the quality of Dondano's bags. Also very fond of Martin Hammers, you can find them in McMaster Carr books and have them next day. I shape over just about anything, stumps, trailor hitch, etc, all work fine. I use a homemade english wheel a**** other home built tools. Use what you like and feals comfortable, and buy American.
The guy that taught me tin work got me hooked on "PEXTO" tools,... I have several different tools,..... but when I find a Pexto I try to buy it,........
Yes, Pexto slipped my old retarded mind. They are some good ones. Again they have good balance and weight. That is what you want.
a fella stopped by my house the other day to pick up a fender for a guy that I sold it to....on his trailer was a machine that probably stook 8+ft and the fact that it was on a trailer made it seem, well it was, HUGE.....a hammer machine similar to yours.......he actually welded it to his trailer and strapped it....i had never seen something so big to do something that seems so detailed to me.....but what do i know about metal shaping......i want to learn........so i perk up at these type of threads... bear with my ignorance here.. when you buy a "good" dolly, is it usually stamped with something? i know you can see the grain in the cheap chinese ones but if i pick up one with some surface rust, how do you tell........well, for a buck or two i guess a guy could just gamble... do you literally polish them back into usable condition or just hit them with a wire wheel to knock off the surface rust as you would any old tool you bought... sorry for the thread hijack!
Cast iron has a dull, co**** feel to it. Steel will polish up nice, as he said. Usually if it's a good quality dolly, the edges will be nicely radiused, and it will have a nice shape to it. The cheap ones just look and feel like ****...and some have an unfinished (as cast) side to them! or hit it with a hammer, if it rings it's steel You can either sand and polish the dolly, or just knock the rust off, depending on how serious you are.
As for polishing, both hammers, and dollies will transfer their surface qualities to the metal you are working on. That is, if they are bumped, dented, gouged, they will transfer these imperfections to the sheet metal you're hammering. If they are nice and high polished, they will keep your metal smooth, maybe even make them smoother! I think a 400 to 600 grit finish is good for regular hammers, but for planishing, an even finer finish is desired. 1000 grit, and then to the polishing wheel!
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