I just finished up a three day metal fabricating class taught by Ron Fournier. The class was based on making a motorcycle front and rear fender, and also the side of a gas tank. (We didnt have time to make the whole tank, but I could now with the skills that were taught) We used aluminum to form these parts; its easier & faster for beginners to learn with aluminum as compared with sheet metal, although the process is very similar. The parts started out as flat stock cut into a pattern, then using hammers and a shot bag they were roughed into shape. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/55paneltrk/balnkfrtfender.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/55paneltrk/hammeredfrtfender.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/55paneltrk/slappingfrtfender.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/55paneltrk/wheelingfrntfender.jpg We used slappers to shrink the sides of the fenders then we took those rough shapes to the english wheel to smooth and fine tune our parts. The front fender was made from one piece, while the rear fender was formed out of three pieces, which were welded together using a henrob gas torch. The nice thing about making it that way is you can vary the width of the fender to match whatever size wheel you are using by changing the width of the center section. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/55paneltrk/slappingrearfender.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/55paneltrk/weldedfender.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/55paneltrk/filingfender.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/55paneltrk/rearfender.jpg I hope to use what I learned, to make, and repair my own body panels for my projects, I have also thought about building a complete RPU body out of aluminum, but that will be sometime down the road. Ive got an idea for building my own english wheel that I think will work really well. Ill do a tech on that if anyone is interested. Sorry about the linked pictures, but it does save on bandwith. I hope you enjoy the pics, Shaun.
I would like to see a tech on shrinking metal like you did on the sides....I have seen that hammer before, but how do you use it? How do you strike the metal and what do you look for. The Henrob is a great tool from what I have heard. I thought about getting one for the last year....maybe a tech on the usage of the Henrob...that would be good to see and even a motivator to get one.
If you picture a round flat sheet of metal, then start hammering in the center of it, the sides will curl up and form a ruffle like pattern around the upturned edges. You can then turn it over a dolly and use the flat slapper to knock down two or three ripples of metal at the same time and they will shrink into each other. You continue this process all the around the bowl. The Henrob torch is nice because it's designed to mix the gasses very effectively before they come out of the tip. That way you can use very low line pressure when welding yet have a very stable and controlled flame. Where as the standard type torch needs to have higher gas line pressure in order to mix the gasses and that makes it a little harder to weld with. I'm not qualified to do a tech on that and I'm just getting started with metal forming so we'll have to wait for one of the experienced people on the board for help on that. Thanks, Shaun.
I know what you mean! I've been trying to justify spending the cash for a wheel, but I haven't come up with a good enough reason. If I was going into business and needed it, it would be one thing, but to use just for myself it's alot of money. Shaun.
Look on metalmeet.com, lots of info and some really knowledgable people there. There are threads on english wheel and anvil construction. If you are a scrounger and have access to a lathe an english wheel is not out of reach. I've been to Fournier's school, Ron's the best there is at metal work and teaching. Got there the night before the class and thought we'd find the shop so we didn't have to search in the morning. Ron's son Dan and daughter Nicole were at the shop late and greeted us like family. Great people. There's a lot to learn forming metal but can be done with all hand tools so watch for toolitis. Doing some research first will let you avoid disappointment with your first efforts. Don't believe all the TV show crap.
I have had a Ron Covell E wheel kit for years and enjoy using it, however I can only stretch with it. I would love to get a power hammer as this would allow some fast shrinking. There are some affordable kits available.IMHO if you are going to have a shaping machine, this will do both stretch and shrink. Another machine is the helve hammer, cheap to build, can stretch and shrink. I like Jim Baile's ever evolving hammer on metalshapers web site.
Hey, You guys talkin about wantin to learn ta work metal would do well to check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/metalshapers ...... This is the granddaddy of the web metalshaper sites, its five or six years old now. This site was the "shit" til some fecal flingin shit lipped chickin- chokers knocked the bottom out of it, and started metalmeet. There is a ton of info on this site about buildin tools ta shape metal, for hot rod buildin, for not alot of money, also, like HAMB, alot of great people.
I could definatly spend a few bucks on tools. I love tools, It's so nice to have the right ones when you need them. I will be making my own metal shaping tools when I can. Thanks for all the feed back, I will be checking out those sites. Shaun.
I did a post awhile back on building an english wheel on the forum. Made it out of some square tubing and a caster wheel from Tractor Supply. Bought a set of lower anvils from e-bay. Ended up with a little over $300.00 in it.
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