If you want to get better at anything you need to practice and push yourself to try things a little out of your skill/comfort level. Metal Shaping is 100% one of those things that you need to practice and work to get better at, even if it means wrecking a […]
Tag: DIY
Smoothing the Back End- Frenched Taillights on Pile House.
I will admit that I tend to over think things when I am building a custom car and sometimes I mock something up and I don’t like it or decide I need to tweak the original idea. A while back I decided on a set of ’62 Oldsmobile 88 taillights for the back of the truck. I liked the lens shape and chrome trim on them, but the bezel had peaked ends that made it tough to sink them into a relatively flat panel. For the sake of getting “something” in the rollpan I temporarily made brackets to slide them into the panel. At first I was “ok” with how they looked, but the further I got with building the tailgate on the backend I knew in the back of my head I needed to revisit how they were sitting.
How to Build Motorcycle Gas Tank Sides with Ron Covell
This year he showed how to make a motorcycle gas tank side with a voluptuous compound curved shape using some of the most basic metal shaping tools. In this demonstration he shows how to make the left side of the tank.
Candy Coat Paint FAQ
What exactly is candy paint? Candy paint, or sometimes Kandy paint, is a clear paint with translucent pigments in it. It is typically applied over a metallic base coat and allows the metal flakes to be seen through the tinted candy color layer. One of the trickiest things about candy […]
Welding Helmet FAQ
An auto-darkening helmet allows you to see to position the electrode, or wire feed gun on your work without needing a hand to flip the helmet down before striking an arc. Many welders have perfected the art of flipping a fixed tint helmet down with just a quick nod of the head, but that still doesn’t work for all situations and welding positions. On top of that, since the tint is created electronically, it can be adjusted to better suit all lighting conditions and types of welding.
Rust Converter FAQ
What happens if you sand to bare steel and just use as insurance? – Rust Converter needs the rust to properly work and cure (think of it as the catalyst for the product). Rust Converter is intended for heavier rust. If applied over bare metal, it will not cure properly and can actually cause light flash rust.
Rust Converter vs. Rust Encapsulator
Let’s face it, we all have rust issues to deal with. Some projects are better than others, but it’s hard to find a project car or truck that has no rust at all, even if it comes out of the Arizona desert. Eastwood makes many products for dealing with different […]
How to shave and metal finish your firewall with Empire Fabrication
Shaving or smoothing the bodywork on a custom car has been one of the most popular modifications since the beginning. Shaving door handles and trim or side marker holes are the most common things to shave on a project car, but close behind that is smoothing or shaving the firewall. Sean of Empire Fabrication has gotten REALLY good at shaving and smoothing cars. So much so that his finished projects require basically no body filler at all and can be primered and block sanded straight away. Sean recently took the time to snap some photos and give us the rundown on how he tackles a firewall shave project. The donor vehicle is a VW Eurovan that he has already drastically customized. So grab a drink, sit back, and watch how to do the job right with Empire Fabrication.
Metal Buffing & Polishing: Basics & How To
Buffing is simply the process of smoothing 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 grit compound, and matching wheel, until you polish your piece to a near mirror finish.