Since there is a need for a hole in the sheet metal for the contact, you could also drill a large hole or two through the smaller of the two dies, and use a large bolt (or two) to apply the force required to make the impression. You would have to back up both dies with a heavy piece of metal (with matching bolt holes) but if you have access to both sides of the panel this would eliminate having to weld in the panel with the recess. Not sure I explained it clearly, but if any of you have ever used a ch***is hole punch it uses the same principle, except that instead of using cutting dies you would use the "recess" dies. Make sense?
Terry did describe that this could be done the way Ebbsspeed suggested. It just depends on how thick the material is and also if you have enough room to get it all in the location you need to press. The neat part about this tech is there are different ways of accomplishing the same idea, and a ton of different scenarios to use it on.
Very cool, I was doing some head scratching about some dovetails I have to do, now I know how I can do it cleanly! Thanks...great tech post.
Yea, I guess we all lost the photos, maybe you could reprint. this looks to good to miss! Thanks T McG. OLY The cancer car lives Give to cancer research
Would it be possible to use the dies directly on the door jam, with some heat, eliminating the welding and finishing?
i suppose if you used the idea with two or three large bolts instead of a press it ,and backing plate that has more area than the die could be done on the car.
Great Tech, another take on this is look at old appliances while on junk yard crawls, many have offsets in the rear panels that come in handy, the back of a refrigerator or stove can yield some good cheap material and is usually heavy enough material.
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