so is the anvil that you have on the bottom, in the pics, flat in the center with beveled edges OR is there a slight curvature all the way to the center
Looks good. Kinda hard to tell from the photo how big the c portion is. What dimensions are the wheel? Throat Depth, height, depth, etc. If you dont mind giving any dimensions.
Actually there is a fair debate about the "proper" shape for a lower anvil (ewheel anvil). One school of thought says that you should use a FULL RADIUS (or TRUE RADIUS) - this style has a SMALLER contact area and therefore might work better on a "wimpier" ewheel frame. ANother school of thought suggests that you use "FLATS" on the very center of your lower anvils. The flats are almost imperceptable since they are "blended" in but they are there nonetheless. This style lower anvil has a LARGER contact area and some suggest that it is somewhat easier to use since you can more easily overlap your passes. Since the contact area is larger the theory suggests it will deflect a Ewheel frame a bit more for a given example. Which is better - well whichever method YOU like!!! As far as making lower anvils - again there are many methods that will yield acceptable results. A lathe is NOT mandatory as I've seen them done with a vise and a grinder, but I wimped out on mine and used a lathe. Soem guys just "eyeball" it on the lathe and others get atad more elaborate. When I made mine I had a chart that told me how far to plunge at each "X" distance apart. The result was a STEPPED looking contour that I then eyeballed to knock off the sharp corners. When I got close I took a large magic marker and COLORED the anvil (makes it easy to see the darkened grooves) that I then filed away - this is not a perfect method but it does work very well if you take your time. I think I paid $4 ea for each lower blank. Here's a couple pics you gusy might like.....one is my Quick Change Upper wheel - I have encountered the need for different width upper wheels on occasion - with this setup I can swap upper in under 30 seconds. There's also a pic of a extra narrow LOWER anvil Support - I needed this to do some inside radii on my chutepack - worked GREAT. Does anyone see the 440 chrysler connecting rod - who's purpose in life now is to raise and lower my anvils - lower anvil is on an eccentric - not a necessity but ocassionally handy. Just some somewhat goofy stuff I schleped together - they all seemed useful at one time or another. Geez I got all flustered and forgot why I origionally wanted to post - Trey you UPPER wheel is fine - there's nothing wrong with using a cast upper wheel - however the cast being slightly porous will NOT be able to polished to a "perfect" surface - but instead will have these teeny tiny pits or holes - when you wheel you will IMPRINT this surface to your panel - does this matter - no not necessarily you're probably gonna sand your panel before paint anyways so you'll knock off any imperfections then. FWIW I used a Forged Steel caster for mine - it polishes up perfectly and was cheap (40-45 bucks) from the local caster supply house. I've since seen them even cheaper at the machine surplus place. If you decide to upgrade to one - be careful of getting "semi-steel" - that's caster talk for "Cast" - (what you have now). Just thinking out loud.
Trey looks good! I built mine out of 2x4 tubing and used sealed bearings out of a few forklifts. I will try and post pics. tomorrow, but check your local tractor supply they have some good wheels there that you can use. http://www.roddingroundtable.com/tech/articles/12ewheel.html that is the web site I got my idea/plans from. I'm tring to teach myself how to do metal work and built one like this. It seems to work well.
That thing is set to overkill - holy crap - but nice work What is the depth on that thing??? And how much Depth is enough for an E.W.? in reality how big of a panel do you want to be able to get into it. Is 48" Depth too much for anything automotive?
Metalshapes and HemiRambler, those are nice looking wheels. I bet you guys get a lot of good use out of those. I'm just a new guy to metalshaping, so mostly what im doing is learing by practice. ITs a lot of fun too. I anealed a .050 piece of 3003 h14 aluminum. That was a blast. It was almost like shaping with butter! I have noticed the small pits that you were talking about, and I figured thats what it was from. My wheel has a 20" throat depth, and height is 25". Not very big, But I'm limited on space here. I figure if i need to make something bigger than that, I'm way over my head anyway. The entire wheel is about 70" tall. The adjuster on the bottom is very crude, but does the job. Just a huge bolt, and a nut, with a adjustment wheel welded on. Then a piece of square tubing rides in another piece of square tubing. It has a little play, but not bad at all. Some guys like to use things like teflon to make a slide bearing to take up slack. I'm not a professional, so I'm not too worried about all that stuff. I'm not even using bearings in my lower wheel right now, and it works fine. I will fix that as soon as the bearings arrive. Honestly, these are very easy to make. Anyone with welding skills could do it. I'm a young guy, and not a very experienced fabricator by any means, and I did mine in a few saturdays. Square tubing is cheap, I just happened to have a piece of plate laying around, and went for it. I also wanted something that looked a little different, but looks are excatly important here. I think if any of you want to build one, go for it! Even if you have to buy an upper and lower wheel, you can still come out way cheaper than buying one that is already made. I think the prices of these is just horrible. I blame the huge trend of motorcycle builders. The same is true for plannishing hammers. Between my Phammer, and english wheel, i have a total of 0 dollars invested, considering i already had the steel. I think you could make one like i did, using 10 gauge plate, and some sort of square tube inner frame, and come out pretty good. Its pretty easy to do some metalworking on the cheap, bowling pin hammer, bowling ball dolly, things like that. Just gotta go for it. Holy crap, thats probably the longest post I've ever made. Ill get off my soapbox now. trey
Hey, Handling a panel by yourself, much over a couple of feet wide, can get to be a handful. Remember, if that panel has much crown, it's going to droop and can cause problems if you arn't careful. It is possible to wheel a 48 inch panel, provided the throat of the machine will allow it, but you would what to get some help with it so that it would not droop and buckle on you. Swankey Devils C.C.
Trey what you think about this one its not as big as some of the ones I seen on here but I have a small shop. I would like to see the planishing hammer when you get it done.
sorry, im a little slow lately. here is the thread of my P hammer. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=90605 trey
Dude, if your are still looking for a foot control for the hammer, check out the simple foot control on blast cabnets. I have been planning on building a hammer also and putting a pair of quick couplers on my blast control so it can work with my other tools.
I was raised Poor. That made me learn to do everything I could. I couldn't afford to have the work done. I am like you I build most of my Tools. I do have a Lathe, it is a 6 foot long baby.
---Here are some plans that were printed in a "American Rodder" magazine in the late 80's. I contacted Mr Bishop a few years ago and he stated that it was ok to post on line.
I like it. Thats a good lookin wheel. If I could make a suggestion, I would extend your adjuster wheel down towards the floor so you can kick it while your wheeling. Some people like the wheel on top though and I'm not sure why. I'd rather keep both hands on the panel and adjust the pressure with my feet, but thats just me.
---There are a lot of pros and cons when building an e-wheel. Some like upper adjusters some like kick lower adjusters, some like true radii lower anvils and some like anvils with flats. I find that I like the upper adjuster and a canted lower arm. I also have lower anvils with flats and true radii, there is always a use for either. Here is a photo of a wheel that, Gary, a good friend of mine built. It has upper adjuster and a canted lower arm. This wheel will probably do a large percentage of the e-wheel work that most people need to do.
choptopfatfendertruck- that wheel looks awfully small. I guess it all depends on what your doing with it. Probably works great for small patch panels. Your right about most of the different options of an english wheel to be personal preference.
Hey Tony, That's a great lookin wheel! Was that the design Gary Pauder came up with? Did you guys notice this post is over four years old? " The icecream truck in his neighborhood plays Helter-Skelter "
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