[John Kelly]

I have come up with an improved method for stretching sheet metal. In my first video I use a palm nailer with a carriage bolt in it for stretching really fast which leaves lumps that must then be hammered out. The new technique will be in my next video, but I thought I should share it now so here goes...
Leaving the carriage bolt in the palm nailer, I made a hammer head from flat bar and a short piece of tubing. The flatbar has been ground, filed and sanded to a compound shape. I wrapped some electrical tape around the sleeve of the palm nailer to tighten up the fit a little. It is nice to have a little wobble in the fit, just not too much.
Then I held a piece of steel over the shot dolly, and stretched down into it. The pictures show the tool and the sheet metal. You can see that there is a pretty smooth lump. This took about a minute to do, and will require very little work to be perfect. I will be using this method with a slight variation in my next video. I will hold the shot dolly on the outside of the fender flare, and use the palm nailer from inside instead. I'm excited about this development...it should make the work faster and easier...although no less noisy.
You can also use the palm nailer from the outside, and hold a dolly on the inside for smoothing purposes...a little tricky.
For those unfamiliar with the tools:

http://allshops.org/cgi-bin/communit...=9980138836765

Pictures attached.

John www.ghiaspecialties.com

[cboy]

A guy like me could do a lot of damage with a tool like that. But sure looks like fun.

Dewey

[OneMoreTime]

Might try that one..I am trying to avoid getting a lot of equipment for metal shaping..not a lot of space for it..

Sur would be easier and quicker than beating with a hammer..

OMT

[crazy larry]

damn.

and i thought i was "uptown" with my newly made bottle cap hammer.

damn.


got me to thinking, how could i adapt a palm nailer for use as a stationary mount p-hammer?...
i'll be back....

[John Kelly]

The only reason that might not work real well is that you have to have pressure against the palmnailer head to make it work, and with a planishing hammer you want to hold the metal down on the lower die. You might be able to work around it by making some kind of a footpedal operated linkage that squeezes the upper and lower arms together.

Or, you could put the palmnailer on the bottom and a flat stationary die on top...push the metal down onto the palmnailer and go!

John www.ghiaspecialties.com

[John Kelly]

Made another tool from the palmnailer. This is faster than a planishing hammer. It is almost a combination of die forming and stretching. The upper "die" is a shot dolly filled with sand. The harder you push on the foot lever, the harder it hits. Makes a very smooth panel that will require only minor smoothing to be perfect. I may make these for sale if there is enough interest, or make your own! I'm really impressed with how fast this tool works and how smooth the panel is. Pictures attached.

John www.ghiaspecialties.com

[cboy]

John,

I really like your experimentation here. Keep up the good work.

[Lee Hulick]

Didn't someone have a kit out a while back where you could make something similar but with an air hammer gun? I've been looking for that for some time.

Lee

[John Kelly]

Thanks cboy!

Lee,

This is a completely different tool. A planishing hammer typically has metal dies on the both sides of the sheet metal being shaped. More like a very fast hammer and dolly....it can shape, but is used more for smoothing. This tool is like a very fast hammer and shotbag with a little die-forming action as well. It would take a lot longer to make a big bowl shape with a planishing hammer for instance.

John www.ghiaspecialties.com