Oh BTW! My grandfather worked at Studebaker for 38yrs. Supposedly, he was the first delegate to the UAW and he started the Studebaker Credit Union. So, seeing the bullet nose there was very special.....
Hi cornfield Custom. That light slapping with your dolly could be referred to as planishing. That is something I do when the work I want to reduce the highs and lows. Love your shop and work Dave Gibson.
Correct it just comes down to how you want to describe it. I didnt want to muddy the waters with talking about slapping and planishing for the same technique on this video.
thanks for uploading another great video. am i correct in thinking you did not cool the panel with water after using the shrinking disc, but simply allowed it to air cool? is there any difference between air and water cooling after using the shrinking disc?
Correct i let it cool on its own, i dont like quenching hot metal at all with water or air. It can start to get hard and will become less responsive to work later.
With the slapper and dolly, are you wanting the metal to sit perfectly on the dolly/adopt the dolly's flat shape? I usually end up with a bloated panel that has a bunch of undulations
Yes you want the metal follow the shape of the dolly. The key is wanting to use a dolly with as close to the same shape of the desired panel as you can. This keeps things from swelling and the slapper will Work out the waves
Great video. Haha here is yet another technical question for you. Those bullseye picks come with a very sharp point. At least mine did. I noticed yours is totally flat about the size of a dime. When do you use the really sharp one vs slightly rounded vs yours, and did you make several that are interchangeable? Any info would be most greatly appreciated.
The very sharp ones get rounded off. The sharpest on i have i use is about a .375 radius and is used lightly for very small lows. The mostly flat one in the video is my go to 90% of the time
Thanks for another informative video. What's your thoughts on a smooth shrinking disc vs serrated? What rpm do you run and WD as lube? Did you choose to tackle planishing the weld seam by hand vs say a planishing hammer because of the size and flatness of the panel? I feel power tool would get out of hand real quick with a hood.
The serrated style disc works better and doesnt gaul the metal like a smooth disc. No lube on the panel, you need to friction to build the heat. On a large flat panel like this, especially as floppy as it is, a hand held planisher could cause more damage than good. Holding hood on a machine was not an option since i work alone
being very new to the automotive metal working world . I have a very basic question that I have not heard talked about. The question is ,why did you choose to weld on the top side of the hood and not the underside of the hood. What is the style and brand name of your tin snips?
The snips are Midwest brand snips. As far as welding on the bottom of the hood vs top there would be no benefit to doing it that way. The down side to doing that way would be the potential for slight under cut around the weld bead on the back side of the weld. you get this a little bit when you cant get gas coverage on the back. I prefer the outside of the body panel have the pretty side of the weld and HAZ as the back side is not as critical. As you weld more sheet metal you will see what i am talking about
Great video as usual. Why do you wait to tig weld up the cleco holes? I normally tig weld them up right after finishing weld seam, then hammer, dolly, planish it all at same time (I have only been tig welding panels 2 years). I understand not wanting to introduce more heat into the panel, but then you are going to that again after you are done planishing the seam. Thank you so much.
By waiting till the end you are not adding in another variable that can cause issues. if you only weld up the seam you know the distortion is only cause by the seam and HAZ, if you do the cleco holes as well, now it could distortion from one or the other, or both. It saves headaches chasing down issues from to much welding at once. Same reason i metal finished out the hood at this point even though i still have a bunch of other fabrication and welding to do on it.
Excellent video! Question: Is the skill and knowledge you have learned/earned or is most of it just raw med scientist talent? Thanks for producing these videos
I would say the skill and knowledge i have is a mix of what you mentioned. I have a knack for metal work, but also years of practice, and getting better with each project. I have never taken a class in sheet metal work, it all comes from trial, error, practice, effort and determination
Great video as always. If you don't mind me asking, if your employer wants you to metal finish both sides of the panel. How would you go about doing the back side after you've already done the front? I had this experience and wasn't able to deliver. The back of my weld had some undercut in it so I couldn't get the same results. Just curious of your thoughts. ✌😁
you would have to go back and weld the lows of the undercut using minimal heat to prevent any undercutting back on the front. doing both sides adds a whole new level for the last 5% taking 95% of the work
