Time to get together in the shop again! This winter we'll have 3 seminars in the shop, Jan 13th; Feb 10th & March10th. All are invited, there is no charge and a buffet lunch is provided. These seminars as much social event as a learning experience, we start at 10am and continue until whenever we feel like quitting. The seminars and topics are still being resolved, but so far we have: *Tom Mancuso, old school master bodyman will show how to lead a joint. *Robert McCartney (MP&C here on the Hamb) will show basic and advanced sheetmetal forming. Robert and Tom will be here on the same day. These 2 guys are incredible to watch and learn from. *John Wessels to do carbs from the early 1900's to modern doublepumper, circuitry and rebuidling. *John Mullen to do Flatties, starting with the 8ba valvetrain and the tooling, then make comparisons to earlier 21stud. *Dave Krolak will do brake systems, from hydraulic conversions to disc brakes. Complete system design. *Va. State Police will address the legal and street worthyness and let us know what to do. Lots of other subject are to be covered and we are talking to potential guest speakers, as things get firmed up i will update this thread. If any of you guys want to make a suggestion for a topic, post it up or shoot me a PM. If any of you guys feel brave enough to get up and do a presentation to a bunch of miscreants and share your expertise with us shoot me a PM. If any of you guys want to sponser the lobster buffet give me a call i want to talk to you! ok?
For those who may be on the fence about attending OJ's workshops, here's a sampling of what we did two years ago in the metalshaping and body lead demo. First pics here are of Tom Mancuso, who used to have a body shop in Long Island and learned leading from some of the masters back in the day.. Two flanged panels were tuck shrinked to form a radius. This was to simulate the leading edge of hood halves being welded together and leaded. Tom using tinning butter on one half and plumbers flux (liquid) with solder on the other, to demonstrate the differences.... The liquid flux tends to get down into cracks better, for a better flow of the body lead. Adding the lead, pushing it into the joint... Rather than use a wooden paddle and tallow, Tom prefers a vintage soldering iron that uses external heat (the torch in his other hand) It seems to do a better job of managing the heat and "puddle". Even though he claimed he hasn't leaded anything in ten years, it was like old hat to him. After our "hood" had a chance to cool, he demonstrated leveling the area with the vixen file. Our completed sample I think Tom enjoyed another crack at flowing some lead.... Got some pictures during the break of some of the vintage tin outside.... Back inside for more work on metal, Dave gives a demo using the shrinking disc.
To expand on the pictures from OJ's event, here is an online friendly tech thread on shrinking that should have prefaced the lead demo. I didn't get as many pictures as I normally do (too many hammers in my hands) so this will be supplemented with some diagrams and previous pictures so we can make a good tech thread. Prior to Tom showing the body lead demo, I needed to make some panels for him to work from. We decided that a curved surface, similar to the front end of a 38 Chevy and its hood halves, would be a better fixture for showing the need for flowing lead up a slight incline. I started with two equal sized panels, and bent a flange on the long edge. Then discussed some of the issues faced when shrinking a flange. For demonstration purposes, in the following example we have a 12" long panel with a 1-1/2" wide flange. If we were to look at the same panel with a radius, formed by shrinking the flange, we would note dimensions similar to as follows: ....where the 90 degree bend at the flange still retains its 12" length, the centerline of the flange in this case is shortened by almost an inch, and the outer edge of the flange shortened by almost another inch. In working with the Lancaster/Eastwood style shrinker-stretcher machines, it is important to note that they are a linear device, the movement they introduce into the metal is in a straight line. So that once a radius starts to form, and with the shrinking device still moving in a linear fashion, the outer edge of the flange will be put into tension as the centerline shrinks. Anyone who has used these devices will have seen this as the machine starts to lose its effectiveness. To counter this effect, we need to shrink the outer edge of the flange more than the inner. By simply alternating the depth of the shrink as shown, you can provide more shrink to the outer edge and the device will become more effective. Another method of shrinking is with the use of tucks. Looking at their shape, the tuck has a wider "gather" at the edge of the flange as compared to the inside bend of the flange, so this eliminates some of the tension issues seen in the mechanical shrinker.
Where the demos were supposed to concentrate on using only hand tools so that the participants could readily duplicate the results without the need for a major purchase, we did find the use of the Shrinker a good comparison, and by chance the tuck shrinking did prove to be faster and more effective. For the tuck shrinking, one can use tucking forks, rounded jaw pliers (by design or modification) or special designed devices. As an example, here is a set of tucking forks I made out of some scrap metal and 5/8 bolts turned down. And a pair made from needle nose pliers.. Probably the biggest challenge with their use is producing consistent tucks. To produce a flowing, consistent radius, we should start with consistent tucks, both in size and the spacing between them. I decided to make a pair of tucking pliers out of Vice Grips, as the jaw adjustment on them would prove to give repeatable sized tucks. We'll start off by finding a pair of vise grips suitable for the job, which in this case means the jaw serrations are starting to wear and round off and won't grip much of anything else. Finish what has started by removing the serrations to produce a nice flat jaw on the bottom, and cut the top one off at about 30 degrees from its original position. I had some extra long shouldered 3/8 bolts, perfect round stock for the job. Three of them were cut off to 1-1/2" length. Here's my economy model lathe made by Dewalt... To set the spacing for the "fingers" the first is clamped in the vise grip jaw, centered. The outer is placed next to it and then welded down the outside, center finger removed, and then welded down inside. Here we should leave a slight gap of your sheet metal thickness to prevent any binding, which will allow a deeper tuck. Repeat for opposite side, then weld center finger. Note in the above picture the 30 degree cut of the upper jaw positions the center finger at an angle compared to the bottom fingers. It is this angle that will help to form the tuck in the proper tapered shape. Of course I took my favorite anvil along to the meet, here clamped in the vise.. Again our object in this case is consistency, so equally spaced marks are placed on the flange, identical tucks made at each mark, and you can see the consistent radius along the panel. I use a O/A torch to heat the tucks prior to hammering them flat. Others prefer to not use heat, and can capture the tuck and flatten it very effectively without it. I am still working on this proficiency, so in the meantime, I use heat. We're looking for something like this, prior to hammering. Here OJ assists with torch duties... Another point to mention is that the hammering action tends to also spread the tuck back apart if not captured effectively. Where the picture above doesn't show it well, a good means of overcoming this would be to clamp a strap of metal across the ends of the newly formed radius prior to hammering, similar to this: Then the hammering force will be more effective in flattening the tuck back into itself. Once each piece was completed separately, the flanges were aligned back to back and the two pieces tacked together. Each had an identical radius, for a good fit. Consistency pays off!
Incredibly informative stuff, guys. Your skills are amazing. OJ you are to be commended for volunteering to host these seminars.
Informative post!!! I plan on relocating to SW Virginia next year and will look forward to your seminars when I do. Would like to contribute too if I can
OJ, I am looking forward to coming down and seeing the shop and talking with you again. Very cool great list of topics you have planned. I would definately like to meet all the other hambers attending so count me in. Dan
seeing this is cool, i don't have the skills that yall do but have used tuck shrinking before on my last two projects, didn't know there was a name for it but when in the shop you have to do what you have to do, i don't have a lot of metal working tools, i do have a metal brake, not a good one but it gets the job done, i admire guys that have your ability and thanks for sharing
Sorry I missed out last year. Don't plan on letting it happen again this year. Will be in Florida the last of Feb., so I'm glad there's several spread out. Great way to gather over the cold spell for dedicated Hambers too. Also, did you know your brake man Dave Krolak has some top secret flattie tricks? Thanks again and see you soon!
Thanks and, yes, Dave is a great guy and very talented. I am looking forward to the flattie session with John Mullen and you know there will be some serious discussions and stories about 'souping up' the flattie - there will be a room full of circletrack and hotrodding geezers and when somebody brings up a particular cam grind the stories won't quit. And, they'll all be true, no exagerations!
Thanks for bringing this back up. There has been a change in plans. The shop gathering scheduled for this Sunday will be next Sunday - the 20th. The primary topics have been changed to include ignition systems and electrical wireing. That session is shaping up to be a really, really good one you'll enjoy. I'll have more info later today.
Just a reminder, the sheduled meeting for this Sunday the 13th has been pushed back by a week to the 20th. If you show up this Sunday for some 'learnin' i will put you in charge of a push-broom and a dirty floor! Thanks, oj
Thanks for a great day at the shop. Weather cooperated and the Hambers showed up! Phartman, 57 Heap, Tom T, Butcher Ted, Just Dave and more. Enjoyed learning at the seminars and great lunch too. For those of you who couldn't make this one, you missed out on something cool.......
One of the seminars was on brakes by Dave Krolak who made it clear how much they count. Doesn't matter how fast you can go, without brakes, you'll only do it once............... Thanks Dave!
Even learned a thing or two about pinstripping and how to adapt the paint to last on todays different finishes. Thanks again OJ and all who shared wisdom about things we thought we knew!
OJ, thanks for hosting and lining up the presentations. Its been too long since I had a chance to hang around talking about old hot rods.
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