I need to buy a Contour Gauge, but the longest one I can find is 15". ( Eastwood) I'd like to get one that is at least 30" long. Does anybody know where I could find one of those? ( Plastic, Steel, Stainless, doesn't matter...)
Depending on how precise you need it to be, you can make one by simply putting a series of holes in a 1x1 piece of wood and running long nails through them. I'm sure someone, somewhere on the web has a better way of making one, but I've seen this used and it works fine as long as you're copying a gradual curve and not a series of small blips.
Hey, You might wanna check with Ron Covell. In the past, I think he was marketing a profile gauge built by Terry Stegel? of Sea Side Ca. This was a big gauge, 'bout '3+ in length. S****ey Devils C.C. "Meanwhile, back aboard The Tainted Pork"
You can also bend up a piece of welding rod or stiff wire until it fits perfectly against whatever you're trying to copy. It's pretty easy to get smooth bends by just grabbing the rod in two places and "bowing it". You can put two doglegs in the ends to keep track of which way is up.
Eastwood has one thats 48" long for sweeping curves, the shop I work at just got one and it looks nice but have not played with it yet. Part # 20475 Eastwood's 48" Body Panel Profile Gauge http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/...UCT&iMainCat=608&iSubCat=609&iProductID=17680 Or at Dagger Tools they have 2 sizes...http://www.daggertools.com/m5_view_item.html?m5:item=DTSW Hope this helps, Alan