Look up Lehigh Valley Abrasives.... One of the best places to get cutoff wheels and such, the Metabo 1/32 ones are my favorite and they are dirt cheap...
I slipped a gear or something.. they are Hitachi discs. Too many projects and supplies on the go. From what I can read off the disc: Type 1 5" x .040" X 7/8" (125mm X 1mm X 22.2mm) 12,250 rpm max Metal, Stainless Steel Thin cutting 727-570 in another place it has: 7 54005 27570 2 Use in accordance with EN12413 They are thinner than the Walter but I haven't tried a Dewalt yet. I hope that helps and again.... sorry for the brain-fart on the name. Joe
Great tech , and when you make round edges on your patch , its easier to metal finish it `cause heat don´t concentrate in sharp corners making it to shrink.
This is a great way to make a patch filler, I've been doing it that way for years. I might add a little something that may make it even easier. Instead of tacking the patch to the panel prior to double cutting I drill through both panels with a 1/8" drill bit and put a cleco through it. This way if anything has to be manipulated you can take out the cleco and drill a new hole for it. This technique is really effective when doing a chop. When the situation warrants it you can let the top slide inside or outside the body then drill & cleco at desired heigth. When chopping a 34' sedan it worked perfectly for around the rear 1/4 and back portion of the body. let a cleco out double cut weld move down another inch and repeat. Try to start in the "middle" of the panel then work each way without jumping around other wise you'll crowd the metal and get a small buckle.
My first impression when I read this is that it was more of a "production technique" than a "quality technique", but I stand corrected. I guess the real key is a quality, thin, wheel and the proper angle to insure as little gap as possible to minimize shrinkage. Nice job and thanks for posting!
bookmarked. thank you-very timely, as a have some very large panels to fit. i was wondering how i would do the arch on some inner fenderwells, i'm going to try this from the inside out....
Great job Fitzee!! Do you tig or mig the final welding process? Do you weld then hammer the weld while its still hot? I have trouble with warping! Thanks Pete
A friend of mine that's been building hotrods for 60+years showed me how he replaced the whole back end of a '35 chevy sedan with that technique. He overlayed the existing with the new panel, screwed it together at the overlap, then, using an air saw, cut 3-4 inch strips, peeled back the overlap and tack welded it. It was slick.
After seeing Brent's ride at Indy, I am not surprised to see his clever post on patch panels. Nice work!! Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
This method doesn't really work very well on curved joints ..such as filling in holes. You can get away with a certain ammount if the radius isn't too tight . ..Having said that...an air powered hacksaw with a small blade would cut a circle just fine if you have one. What you could do when filling in a 5in dia holes is to leave 2 or 3 tabs on the patch and neatly trim them off during the welding process. Or use magnets to hold the patch in place...I do that quite often.
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