Eastwood Shrinker / stretcher

I was just out working on my car, and realized Im going to make it really hard on myself if I dont keep buying tools . Im looknig at Eastwoods # 28053 Shrinker/stretcher set with free stand ( Whoohoo ) for $350 smackers .Anybody have one. Are there any other brands in the same price range . I need to get a set as cheap as possible because im a broke ass.

 

Gulley Performance has 'em...saw 'em today at Charlotte for $300.00/set. 423-247-2271. This is a GOOD outfit...I bought a few body hammers and board sanders, a dolly and such...came up about $50.00 short in cash...the guy sez "send it to me"! Didn't know me from Adam..now that's guy I like doing biz with...He also carries planishing hammers, English wheels, shot bags and all forms of body working tools...good quality Made In USA stuff..not slave-labor Chinese stuff...

 

Thanks for the tip on Gulley. I'll have to try and give them a call Monday. I searched for a web site and they don't have one, just this contact page:
http://metalshapers.org/tradeshows/gulley/
which you already posted info. for.

 

I bought my english wheel kit and a bunch of other metalworking tools from Gulley. He's a great guy to deal with and always has a good selection of tools when he goes to a meet.

Frank

 

You can count on Eastwood being more expensive. The shrinker/stretchers are $250 at most places

 

Glad to see other HAMB'ers with good things to say about this guy...

 

Do you have a URL for him?

 

just the phone #..the www.gulleyperformance.com gets a generic site...but he's linked through the metalshapers site www.metalshapers.com

 

i got mine from ron covell, same as eastwood, two housings and two sets of jaws, $324

 

I have the Eastwood shrinker/strecher setup with the stand and have had it for several years,,,,,I don't remember the cost but they have paid for themselves many times over,,,,, HRP

 

Just make sure you dont buy any chinese shit.




edit.Oops,pretty big picture,sorry.
edit.Resized.

 

Try these guys, there based out of wichita ks. They dont sell a stand but you could make one easy enough. This address is the shrinker stretcher page, if it doesnt link to the site, copy and paste it into your navigator bar.

http://www.yardstore.com/index.cfm?Action=ViewCategory&Category=104

RJB

 

The shrinker comes in handy at times...the stretcher less so. You can easily stretch and shrink without these tools. What are you doing?

I agree, Gulley, and Covell are both great resources for tools.

John www.ghiaspecialties.com

 

is gulley the guy thats usually at the goodguys shows??

 

Thanks! I now have that site bookmakred. Looks like a place where I can learn a lot.

BTW,somebody sure screwed up this page,didn't they?

 

Bought some things from Jerry Gulley also this weekend @ Charlotte..Great to deal with& has great prices on the Martin tools..and just for your info , he used to campaign an Alcohol Funny Car ..it was a real low-buck operation ,but he was always there and a threat..

 

I dropped 600 bucks with Gulley at Daytona, and am fixin to order some more tomorrow. Great people to deal with.

 

Yea...I used to run a low-buck FORD circle track deal....never won the the main but we ran the hell outta the heats and semi's...I wouldn't know how to do anything any different...Poverty builds character!

 

Yea i know , I just want to make things easy , Im going to be doing floors , wheel wells ..ect Just by looking it should save me tons of time , I dont want to buy a piece of shit though , They all look almost the same by pics . Not sure who to buy from ? Anyboby else own some ?

 

I believe that all of the shrinker/stretcher units that are Made in America are made in the same place. They're all the same. I don't know where they're being made, but just find the best price you can.

They're extremely useful for a number of sheetmetal forming steps, although I find it hard to get a uniform amount of stretching/shrinking of a length of material. Dog legs and varying radius curves are pretty darned easy, but spacing the jaws evenly and using the same amount of pressure in each "bite" takes some practice.

(Kartsa, thanks for re-sizing your picture. I couldn't read this thread before!)

--Matt

 

another vote for gulley, he's a great guy.. Oh and did I mention that I live 10 miles from eastwood...

let me say it again..Gulleys a great guy...

as for an alternative to the "stand" that eastwood sells.. I prefer this..

the shrinker is bolted to a piece of one and one half inch square tubing.. (1/16th wall if that matters) that then slides into a piece of 2 by 2 square tube.. and hangs off my fabrication machine..

sorry for the crappy quality pic

 

Damn, that's so clever, it's unbelievable.

That changes the way I have been mounting my shinker and stretcher set.

Thanks, Sawzall!

 

yeah i am so smart..!

i wish I had a better photo of the entire.. fabrication table / assembly / machines.. maybe for the next tech week..

sawzall

 

Funny you guys are talking about this...mine just took a shit this weekend! The main steel bar inside split right below the pivot hole. The other one broke about 2 years ago, and I've been using one housing.
Any input on the air powered ones?
Getting older, and weaker!

 

I saw a great tip for working with these: Make the stand short, like mid-thigh level. That way when you push down on it, you're using the weight of your whole body, rather than just your arm muscles.
The drag is that you're then hunched over, which can be hard on the back.

Metalshapers.org has a lot of albums on cool shop tools--some guys on there have converted these to use a foot pedal instead of the handle to do the work. Check them out.
-Brad

 

Does anyone have any pictures of a good foot operated setup?

 

I bought mine from Ron fornier and made my on foot operated stand sorry I dont have a digi camera. Ill try to get one of the gmb to come over and take a picture. Pat

 

i made a foot operated one out of scrap . the heads mount to 2x2 angle welded to a 2x2 square up right. 12x12 base bolted to the floor. the hand rod gets cut off 3" with plates weled on each side for a hemi joint goint to the 3/8 rod for the foot pedal. foot pedal mounts to the box tube and hemi joint atches 3" out.

Looking back on how i made this I should have made it so the top could spin around so there is less walking when needing to use both heads.

 

Thanks, Slag!

Do you have some sort of return springs so the jaws open back up?

 

Not to beat a dead horse......but!!


All the stuff I've ever heard about Jerry Gulley was always SUPER POSITIVE!!! My experiences with him were also super good - he bent over backwards to help me out and I wasn't even buying anything from him!! Now THERE'S a fella with good character and actually WORTH buying from.

Can't say the same for Eastwood.

Speaking of shrinker stretchers - I have always wanted one but have gotten by without one so far. I guess I don't do enough work to justify one just yet. I have had excellent sucess making "dog legs" and such with wooden bucks. Shrinking/stretching no problem. Of course, I still scrounge the "tool junk yards" in hopes I'll find one for a song. Missed a couple already