Unless your car has a factory stainless steel exhaust tubing it is only a matter of time before the elements compromise the integrity and functionality of one or many parts of the whole system. Nothing is worse than the constant ticking sound that is the most apparent symptom of a […]
Author: Joe Dick
Tips to tuning up your metal fab tools.
You change the oil, rotate the tires, wax your car to keep it in tip-top shape right? Well why not your tools? Metal fabrication tools get used hard and often we forget that they need maintenance to keep them working well. I put together a handful of tips that will help you keep your tools cared for.
Metal Buffing Tips and Tricks
Buffing is just the process of smoothing the minor high and low spots on a surface until it is perfectly smooth. Typically it is done with fabric wheels and abrasive compounds of various types. You progressively move from a very aggressive, to a less aggressive compound, and matching wheel, until you polish your piece to a near mirror finish.
Clear Coat FAQ
Clear Coat is just like regular paint with no solids or tints added to it. Modern clear coat paints are formulated to have more gloss, more flexibility, protect better and be more UV resistant than the old solid color/no clear paints that used to be the industry standard.
Plasma Cutters & Plasma Cutting FAQ
plasma cutter can cut anything that is electrically conductive, which means all metals. Some metals conduct better than others, or melt at a lower temperature and therefor cut easier, but pretty much all of them can be cut. You would be surprised at just how thick of a piece of structural steel can be easily cut with the most basic of plasma machines.
Top 10 Pony Cars at SEMA
We take so many pictures and video over the course of the week SEMA takes over Las Vegas it takes us almost a year to get through all of the media! While going through our photos we decided to put together this list of our favorites from this past years show!
Here are 10 cars spotted on the floor, in no particular order, which show it hasn’t already all been done.
Metal Cutting & Shears FAQ
Can I cut sheet metal with a plasma cutter? – Sure you could cut sheet metal with a plasma cutter, if you have one, but it’s can be like hunting ducks with a bazooka. Plasma cutters will easily cut through metal from over 1 inch thick, to thin body work […]
How to make a Custom Metal Hood Scoop from Scratch- With Ron Covell
Ron Covell is a master of forming sheet metal by stretching, bending and shaping. He has made a series of how to DVDs which Eastwood carries, in which he teaches you how the things he makes look so easy. He also does classes and workshops all over the country, including at Eastwood headquarters in Pennsylvania. He uses our tools, and for several years now he has attended the SEMA show in Las Vegas and demonstrated them, from hammer, sandbags and dollies to the English Wheel.
One of the projects he likes to use as an example is a traditional styled, hot rod hood scoop out of 1/16 inch thick aluminum, from start to finish in less than an hour.
How to Strip Automotive Paint- The Tools and Procedures
One of the big, time consuming jobs on any project vehicle (unless you are building one from scratch with raw sheet metal ) is stripping off years of old paint, primer and anything else on the body panels. There are as many different ways to strip paint as there are […]