Just a headsup, this is the final shop gathering of the year is this Sunday, the 10th and its' gonna be a dussie. Robert (MP&C here on the hamb) is going to do a bangup presentation of basic and some advanced metal shaping. We'll have TIG welding demo's and bring your shield if you want to learn 'fusion' style welding. We decided to expand on what we've done before and we'll let you guys mess with the machines too...bring your own bandaids and no whineing when you run your thumb up under the rollers of the English wheel. You can play with the bead rollers (electric & mechanical), pnuematic hammer, shot bag or stump...have at it. materials etc are provided - again i have only the one cheapest junkiest shields (i been looking for the old cardboard stapled together kind as an upgrade) so bring yours. We'll have a tasty buffet lunch and i hear ther'll be BROWNIES! We start at 10am and go until we are woreout and done. My shop is www.clarkecountyspeed.com located at 607 E. Main St. Berryville VA shop phone is 540-955-0479
Me too Jeff! We've got some old fenders and doors where we'll be covering some layout, fabrication, t*******, etc of patch panels, both basic and more advanced tipping tools for making door skin repairs. Also some dent repairs and bumping techniques using the donut dolly, and more....
James Bowler will be in house to teach the welding seminar, bring your shields if you want to try a hand at TIG with emphasis on 'fusion' style. I believe a pinstriper is coming and he'll be doing a clinic and you might be able to talk him into doind something for your project. I also heard a professional photographer will be here doing some 'artsy' stuff, the weather looks good so bring your old iron.
Thanks go to Robert and James for some super informative presentations ... and of course many thanks to Ojh for hosting. It was a good day. You all sparked some sincere interest in my grandson. Now I just have to let him experiment with the stuff I've got. john soko
John, glad to have such an attentive student! Thanks to OJ for hosting the meet, to James for the welding demo, and most of all to those who gave up a nice, sunny Sunday afternoon to come learn some metalshaping!
It was an amazing time. Robert and James are a couple of very gifted craftsmen. Heres a pic of each, Robert is shaping a patch for the bottom of a fender and i was trying to catch his hammering technique. James has taken a couple pieces of s****s and turned them into a single piece, he fusion welded the two and then metal finished them, the pic of him is when he wheeled it out a little.
Hi OJ, Thanks for all you do. Sorry I missed the meet, I know that Robert is very Talented guy. I was there a couple of years ago and was very impresed .
Had a good time yesterday at Clarke County Speed Shop in Berryville Va. OJ Higgins was hosting an all day event of Tig welding and metal shaping, and I was on the hook to provide a good bit of the metal shaping demo, with James Bowler adding his expertise in showing Fusion welding. The audience was primarily gear heads, and it seemed everyone had some vintage iron they were working on and looking for some insight to help out with rust repair and panel forming. Based on our audience, OJ asked that we focus on the use of hand tools where ever possible that anyone should be able to easily duplicate the methods with basic tools. We did stray from this slightly in showing the tipping wheel on the bead roller, but only after showing tipping methods using hand tools, including a cresent wrench... We started off discussing hammer selection.... Then, using the body hammers, we showed the principles behind on-dolly, off-dolly, and use of the donut dolly, shown here with a damaged bus door. A grid was used on the door to ***ist with occasionally checking the alignment of the hammer to the dolly, for optimal effectiveness in using the donut dolly. Next, in preparation for t******* patch panels we discussed the proper use of tin snips. This was based on a video by Bill Gibson, a must see on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAOQfUaRZyw&feature=related[/URL] Questions diverted to the "odd looking" vise grips I had brought along, the de-skinning tool: The tube beading tool demonstrated: .....and the tuck-shrink pliers... Then we moved on to reading the panel for fabrication of a patch. Starting with a piece of masking paper, forming it tight to the panel, any area showing a pleat would require shrinking, a slit would require stretching. Next, a flexible shape pattern was taken from our circled "sample damage area". Cling wrap was used to act as a release agent, but as the cling didn't, it was stretched across the area and taped in place. An opposing angle on the second layer helps to lock in the panels shape on the pattern... And trimmed off the excess. The reference line surrounding our "damage area" was copied onto each layer to help determine the correct size for the patch panel...
Next, a shot bag was used to hammer out our repair panel. By using the FSP on top of our patch, the loose areas shown indicate more stretch or shape is needed in the panel.. until the pattern reaches a snug fit.. Simply inverting the pattern will give us a pattern for the opposite fender. Next, we showed fabrication of a door skin patch. The outline of the door was marked on the patch, and the width of the flanges added. The first trial was done using a cresent wrench, and we found the disadvantage being no depth stop. These tools show a fixed depth tool and an adjustable depth tool.. And then the tipping wheel in the bead roller showed another method. After both flanges had been tipped, one of OJ's drift punches clamped in the vise became a radius anvil for the corner.... Then we wrapped up a few of the different lessons together in forming a patch for the bottom of a Stovebolt rear fender. Many fenders of this vintage are plagued with rust around the running board attachment area, and this sample also showed a stress crack or two. This patch needed rolling, a bit of stretching in the shot bag to add crown, tipping flanges, and a bit of tuck shrinking. James Bowler showed fusion welding using the Tig. Two formed pieces were welded together and with a bit of filing and shaping, the outer seam was invisible... ....and here is the rear view... I think everyone had a good time, we answered many questions, OJ kept everyone well fed, all in all a good day..
Thanks, James and Robert, for taking the time to show us first-hand how to shape metal and OJ for hosting. I wish I could've stayed even longer. -Gary
That was just after the door skin patch panel... It wasn't like we were waiting for you to leave or anything... j/k Good to meet everyone and put some faces to names. Look forward to the next one...
I have always sead that you will never stop learning something new. This demo was no exception as I a body man for 30 plus years found new knowledge. It just shows you can teach an old dog new tricks...Sorry I missed the welding demo proly would have learned something there too. We had a long trip back so we had to leave early. Thanks Robert ,OJ, and all who made this event a winner ...Thanks... John
OJ, got the hammer in the mail today, thanks! You could have just used it until next year and saved postage
A shop full of mostly house-trained rodders with food and metal to pound on? Sounds like fun to me! Thanks to everybody that came, lets do it again next year.
The Jalopy Journal
