Bending metal can be pretty simple with basic hand tools if you’re doing thin materials, but once you get past sheet metal and into thicker materials over 1/8″ it can be difficult to make sharp bends in metal without extreme force. In the past heating metal with an Oxy-Acetylene torch was one of the few ways you could bend thicker materials with ordinary shop tools. This method was common when every garage had a set of torches on hand. In today’s world a gas torch is less common as most use a plasma cutter or electric welder to cut and weld metal. In this tutorial we show how you can turn your TIG welder into a heating device and bend thick gauge metals with your TIG welder at home.
Tag: DIY
How to Clay Bar Your Paint for A Perfect Finish.
The surface of your car should be clean before you start detailing. Obviously, you want to wash the car and get the major dirt and road debris off the car. The next step is to get the dirt and contaminants that are bonded into the clear coat off the surface. So, the first thing you should do to this panel after an initial wash is using a clay bar over the paint. What that’s going to do is pull out all the contaminants that are in the paint so that when we buff the entire panel we’re buffing the paint and not just pushing the contaminants around.
How to Remove Stubborn Stuck Screws
Breaking stuck bolts, nuts, and other hardware loose can be a headache and although there are techniques that work well on heavier bolts and nuts; these techniques don’t work as well on flathead or phillips head screws as the head can strip or get damaged a lot easier. Often times the screws are in delicate or tight areas and using heat or other aggressive methods might not be the best option. We decided to show you our favorite method for removing phillips or flathead screws quickly and easily.
How to Remove a Dent in a Plastic Bumper
In the old days removing a dent in a metal bumper was labor intensive and you need a bit of skill to get the dent out 100%. Most cars today use plastic or composite bumper covers that can get easily dented and traditional methods won’t repair them. If you want to save a dented plastic bumper you may be able to do it yourself at home with limited tools. We show the steps below.
How to Repair Rust Pin Holes Without Welding
Rust pin holes can happen on vehicles as new as a few years old in some cases. You might not have the money to pay an auto body shop to perform the repair or the tools to cut and weld a new patch panel in. But there are solutions that will give you a simple repair that can be done in your driveway. Below we show you the process for repairing rust pinholes and sealing the area up for a permanent repair.
Beginners guide to powder coating!!!
Powder is a process which has gain considerable popularity over the past years and for good reason. Instead of using a paint like we are all so used to, powder coating actually uses finely ground plastic to cover the part. Then once introduced to heat to cure, the plastic softens […]
How to set up an HVLP spray gun!!!
Have you ever wondered what it would take to paint your own car? Save yourself tons of money by doing the paint job at home. For years the standard spray gun was a Binks siphon fed gun. These spray guns were best used with lacquer based paint while holding huge […]
How to Make Door Jambs From Scratch- Eastwood Elite Shrinker Stretcher
In this tech article we’re working on a Model T roadster project that started out as a pile of parts. With any type of project like this you’re going to run into areas where there’s just no metal at all and we need to make it from scratch so we’re going to be making a door sill and door jamb area on this vehicle.
Five MIG Welder Maintenance Tips- How to TroubleShoot Your MIG Welder
MIG Welders are a glorious thing. Feed it wire and gas and it’ll “glue” all sorts of metal together. The mechanical inner workings of a MIG welder are pretty simple. There’s a drive motor that turns a set of rollers that feeds the wire through your MIG torch and you’re off and welding. What most don’t realize is that a troublesome MIG welder could be just be a maintenance issue and not the welder itself failing. We decided to put our five maintenance tips below you should check periodically. Like any mechanical item your welder needs maintenance to continue to perform its best.