OK, I've been screwing around on patching my off topic Dodge Ram. I make templates out of cardboard/posterboard and then transfer to the metal and go from there. But I can't seem to get a really good finish. There is always gaps and such. HELP!!!!!!!!!
use the cardboard that interior shops use, it is a lot denser than regular cardboard it shears well and bends better and can be filed or sanded for tight fits.
i've never used a template for a patch panel. i just make them a little big and trim just a bit at a time until they fit
Screwing up cardboard is a lot cheaper then screwing up steel. I nearly always make a cardboard pattern. I have found using thin cardboard (like soda can/ beer boxes) works very good. You can get a very close fit, but when I transfer it to the sheet metal, I mark out the pattern to the metal with a wide magic marker and cut outside my pattern edge. That gives me a little extra metal around the pattern (about 1/4") and then I trim the steel to fit. The thin cardboard is closer to the actual metal thickness so you get a closer fit, the down side is it tends to not follow a curve surface as well. There does always seem to be an ample supply of the thin cardboard and the large quan***y package containers offer large pieces of cardboard source. Gene
Not sure what you are using to mark the template or metal A scribe is way more precise than a worn Sharpie. It does usually take some tedious t******* though.
Im sorry, but if you cant figure out how to make a template, you probably dont need to be messin with it.
2" masking tape or duct tape in layers works great. put a couple layers on the area you want to patch and trim the edges while still on the car. Then paint, dye-kem or scribe a line around it into the metal and pull it off. Lay it flat onto the new metal, outline and cut. Takes all the guesswork out of what shape you need to cut, and subsequently bend the new metal into. Especially with compound curves.
I'm getting better at making templates and actually having the real part come out close to what I need it to be. What I have been doing more of is taking a lot of measurements, using both poster board and construction paper, and I buy sharpies by the box so I always have one with a sharp point. Then I make the metal one just a tad bigger than the template and use a nibbler to cut it out. It only took me 67 years to finally start getting them close to perfect, but better late than never. Don
Making a pattern is a skill , they are called pattern makers and usually paid well. Using a patter takes practice and being mindful of what your doing exactly. Hitch hiker hit on the main point. Cutting on the right side of things. Simple statement but lots behind it. Nesting parts is another thing..like if you make your temple over an existing wheel arch fit perfectly, parts made from that will not fit into the part it was made over exactly. What'd be bigger the mold or the part ? Depends on what side the mold is on right. Again what side of things. A more specific question of yours and maybe one of us can get you a more specific answer
It takes time and lots of patience.. leaving an oversize edge always helps. I try to identify a "datum" that I measure from, I just lay out a couple of square lines to take all of the measurements from. I'll even use a couple of holes to cleco the pattern to the panel and transfer that to the patch. Bob
Had the exact same thought, getting good at any skill set takes practice, practice, practice, practice and a whole lot of questions to someone who knows better than yourself. Don't let the knockers deter you, you've got to start somewhere.
OK. How about 2 identical tumblers from the kitchen cupboard or 20 oz coffee cups from the corner store. They are identical, yet dont go together. Make a perfect template from one and then duplicate a cup. It won't it will be too big- nor will it go inside the original cup. That's one pretty familiar to everyone. Look at clothes, same but small, medium, large, extra large. In the clothing industry, the job is called Grader. One or two for any huge clothing manufacturer, well paid and a dieing art. That guy takes the original hand sewn garments and creates the patterns. Then he adjusts for different sizes as well as long or short. Its quite complicated. Now the pattern or template is mostly undersized but oversized in areas so the material will be the correct shape. Never thought about all that when you go hunting Levis. Every garment from sox to to hats men's woman's kids goes thru that. Used to be hard paper patterns but all cad files now.
Here's some more Cutting on the right side Take a whole saw, easy to see that example. Cut a 2" hole in a piece, the plug is smaller. Same thing happens if you cut a chunk out of a fender. Take a 2x4 exactly 12 " long. Mark another using the first, & cut it . mark the third using the second, mark fourth using the third. U will have 4 different size pieces if you cut exact on the lines you draw.
Always make the first metal cut larger than it needs to be. Get the basic shape in the metal before putting it in place and scribing a cut line. Cut outside the scribe mark and fine tune by fitting the patch and t*******. Sneak up on it rather than trying to get it on the 1st cut.
I like to use manila file folders for patterns, easy to cut with sissors, tin snips or knife. always seem to have some around, can be folded easy, and holds its shape well
depending on what you are doing many times a template is not needed. I like to fit my panels together overlapping then cut through both with the thinnest cutoff wheel I can get.
Try and keep the template small enough to work with. In difficult areas like wheel arches or windshield/back gl*** chanel it is better to make several small patches and weld them in sections.
If you can't offer any real help or constructive advice, you probably dont need to be posting. The guy asked for some help so he can learn instead of make mistakes, at least you could help him. Was he suppose to just know it by magic? Obviously you have no knowledge on the subject to add. X2!!!We all need help sometime, because it is easy for you, doesn't mean it's easy for everybody. If you can't help... STFU. Back to the task at hand.... I have had good success (depending on what your doing) with covering the section with 2 or more layers of good masking tape and transfering it to poster board then to metal. As stated before, be sure you keep in mind which side you are cutting on. Be sure to mirror it if need be and be generous with material. Easier to remove than add.
To each his own on template sometimes there not needed for small parts or low crown panels you just use a profile gauge to get the shape. Card board poster board chip board cereal boxes what ever works. its all up to the person making the part on how much detail they want to put in. i posted some photos of a coupe corner that i made a while ago a lot of info and time put into making good unsaleable template and even a flex pattern made from strapping tape. Copied from a know good car. A flex pattern made more paper patterns made Part made and checked tacked in Part installed before final metal finishing. Hope this helps some on the template ideas this was a involved part but its one i had some good photos of templates.
make your template and transfer it to the metal you will be using. Cut the metal at least 1/4" wider than you need. Shape as needed. Clean the edges of the area that you patching down to clean metal. Spray those edges with paint. (I use self etch in a spray bomb cause we have lots of it and it dries fast) Clamp,screw, ir cleco your patch panel over the area to be repaired. Take a scribe and trace the outline of the patch panel. Only scribe each edge ONE TIME. If you run the scribe back and forth, it will not give you a true line. Remove patch panel and cut and trim metal up to scribe line. With practice, it gets pretty easy.
I draw a full scale drawing of a part then glue it to the sheet metal with a glue stick ,and cut it out. Works for me but I started out as a draftsman at 18 when we had to hand draw and letter everything. I was never a great draftsman but good enough for car parts.
I always use the whole saw; just part of the saw won't get it! Just foolin' with ya, typos are fun. My favorite pattern material is beer boxes; they aren't just for hats anymore. Fun to empty them too. That work Rex Rogers did is fantastic. Lots of good info here.
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