Thread: 55 Wagon Progress

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I advised them of the 7 day window, but I think they will be scuffing it out of habit...

Made a new tool Tuesday night, this is inspired by the bench mount shear that you saw at our last metal shaping class at the shop, made by Charlie Cerutti. This mimics the Beverly Shear on a much smaller scale, and for those who have arthritis issues and find difficulty in the squeezing process of using hand snips, this could prove invaluable.


This was made using two (right and left hand cut) pair of 90* Midwest shears. First step is to remove handle covers, a utility knife makes short work of it.. Then the handle toward the jaws is trimmed off, as shown in the picture. A one inch diameter tube is used as the pull handle, welded onto the remaining handle of the shears. 5/8 round stick is used for the cross piece and upright supports, and an angle provides the base for clamping (for portability) or screwing to the front edge of your workbench.
























Here shown fully assembled:




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdaX4GJ-PHI




.....and here in operation...




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2oCHf_lm9M



The intent here is not to increase capacity by adding more leverage, I would still recommend adhering to manufacturer's recommendations. This is merely another tool that may make the job easier..

That's a very cool, innovative approach! I was wondering about attachment, but the second video showing it in use shows the big C clamp securing it to the bench, so it's not in the way when not needed. Another bonus! Nice job, and thanks!!

Very nice and thanks for sharing that with us!

We were blocking out the wagon's roof today, and had a few low spots to bump upwards. To locate the lows on the inside, I thought to use one of our rare earth magnets in the center of the low, and use the body hammer on the bottom side of the roof to pinpoint the magnetic pull. These are 65 lb pull magnets that we use for our paper patterns. By a stroke of luck (blind squirrel finds acorn) we noticed in scuffing the inside of the roof that the magnet location readily appeared, for a more accurate locating method.

Video:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubq89aPMJjY




.

That's pretty neat, there's so much that I would do different on my 53 if I would have seen this build first.

Scatter some iron filings on top, you'll see the magnet exactly.

Had a couple questions on what the heck I'm showing in the video.. Haha... so let's clarify..


We were blocking out the primer on the roof and came across a few low spots. These were low enough to be seen in the paint if left alone, and yet mixing and sanding any filler "repair" would have taken longer than some simple bumping of the low area.


Since I don't have a Bullseye Pick, we thought to use some gentle hammering with a crowned body hammer beneath into a small shot bag on the top (outside) of the roof. We have some 65 lb pull rare earth magnets that we typically use for our paper patterns, and this showed to have enough strength to pull through the roof skin. So we placed the magnet in the center of the low area, and in order to locate on the underside, would skim across the roof from beneath with the hammer face to see where the pull was strongest. The location was then marked underneath with a sharpie, magnet removed and replaced with the shot bag, and the area was tapped into the shot bag until blocking showed the area where it should be.


On one of these "marking with a sharpie" efforts, there was a slight bit of dust on the bottom side of the roof, so I gave it a wipe with my hand to displace the dust and instantly saw the outer circle of the magnet. This was much more accurate than using the magnetic pull test, so we changed to this, and the metal bumping effort worked well. We surmise that this "dust" that clings to the magnetic field is likely sanding residue from the primer, or sanding residue from dressing welds inside the car, or both. In any case, it worked well to help transpose the low spot locations to the bottom side for more accurate hammering.

That is a very cool and time saving trick!

Originally Posted by MP&C

Since I don't have a Bullseye Pick, we thought to use some gentle hammering with a crowned body hammer beneath into a small shot bag on the top (outside) of the roof. .

I had to read this a few times... I couldn't fathom that there is a tool that you don't own or make! Just teasin'.. The magnet "ring" is a cool tip, could be handy in many situation.

Spent last week in Rock Hill SC for a metalshaping workshop. My project was going to be making a section of drip rail to match a section cut from a vehicle.. I was going to use the bead roller but any attempt showed distortion was difficult to control. Just to clarify where this is situated, this is welded along the outside of the A-pillar with the tail comprising part of the windshield opening.








After looking at some of the home made Pullmax dies others had brought, I think eliminating the deformity can be best addressed by making dies for the Lennox (Pullmax). Here's what we started with, a section of 18 gauge (to match OEM) and folded the lip that will form the outside face of the drip rail..





Next, a die is used to add the joggle seen at the bottom, and a clamped-on guide prevents the flange from wanting to move skyward.








Next operation is to add the slight bit of radius to the front face of the drip rail. Here's our die configuration for this step..





Shown here with the original cross-section piece...

Our first task tonight was to modify die set #2 from last night so it would also tighten up the reverse joggle.























Next, Die set #3 for adding the remaining folds. A partial bend is done in the magnetic brake, and then the die set forms them more accurately.



Before:







After....







Comparison:














I like this method much better, looks to be more easily repeatable with better consistency.

Have you ever considered making a cabinet (I'm picturing a mail sorting rack) to hold your custom dies? You could tack cross section of the pattern the dies make on the cubby.

I would HAVE to find some means of storing the dies else I would absolutely forget what they did.

That is absolutely awesome! You are really good at making those dies too!

Very clever work, I admire your patience to make things right, wish I had that much.