Tools of the trade: Collision repair

Hammer1963 · Jan 1, 2013

I've been contacted by several new Garage Journal members about hammers, dollies and spoons.

The following pics are most of the Striking tools I use at work on a daily basis. Most of the body hammers are Snap-on along with several Herbrand spoons and a variety of other hammers,spoons and dollies including Snap-on, Herbrand, Plvmb, Fairmont, Matco, Proto, Martin, Cornwell, Picard, Heller, MAC and many hand crafted items. I hope the photos are helpful.

Boyd · Jan 1, 2013

What are your thoughts on Streamline hammers?

Hammer1963 · Jan 1, 2013

I have 5-6 that I used at home for years. The forgings are good quality and they offer a good variety. They are not quite as balanced as some brands. Other than that, good tools

oneandgone · Jan 15, 2013

I finally got some pics taken so I thought I should get in on this. I'm under the impression there aren't many body men on here? Nontheless, here are a couple quick pics of my hammers, dollies, and spoons as well as my blocks and some other misc items.

oneandgone · Jan 15, 2013

Kevin, who made the long pick hammer? I've seen one similar before and I think it was branded as a Mac? Regardless, that's exactly the kind of thing that when I see it I want one! It's ridiculous so I love it!

afazz · Jan 15, 2013

Very nice collection! Is that a BF634 in between the two 618's? I'm still looking for one, its the only discontinued model I'm missing to complete my collection.

I'm not a pro, but I do a lot of sheet metal forming. Here is my Snapon drawer:

I think if I had to choose a favorite, it would be the Blue Point BF613 with the 604 being a close second.

humpdawg · Jan 15, 2013

oneandgone said:
I finally got some pics taken so I thought I should get in on this. I'm under the impression there aren't many body men on here? Nontheless, here are a couple quick pics of my hammers, dollies, and spoons as well as my blocks and some other misc items.

Another body man here.
My tool selection is still very small but it is growing. I'm lacking in dollies and hammers at the moment.

ianguilly · Jan 15, 2013

Where are all the welding clamps?

KLG73 · Jan 16, 2013

Another body guy, heres most of my stuff.

oneandgone · Jan 16, 2013

ianguilly said:
Where are all the welding clamps?

If I get time I'll snap a pic of mine today. Most of them are cheapies that are replaced over time by Irwin. If you need a bunch right now and don't have much money, HF is the way to go! Glad to see more body guys showing up!

oneandgone · Jan 16, 2013

As promised. They just moved to their new home in my new cart today so it was a perfect time to get a pic.

Hammer1963 · Jan 16, 2013

oneandgone said:
Kevin, who made the long pick hammer? I've seen one similar before and I think it was branded as a Mac? Regardless, that's exactly the kind of thing that when I see it I want one! It's ridiculous so I love it!

Glad you like it. That's a Kraftech body hammer aka Kevin made. I made 2 of those about 15 years ago. I was doing a lot of restorations at the time and needed a hammer for tail fin repair on late 50's early 60's sleds.

Hammer1963 · Jan 16, 2013

humpdawg said:
Another body man here.
My tool selection is still very small but it is growing. I'm lacking in dollies and hammers at the moment.[/QUOTE

I keep a lot of extra hammers and dollies on hand. PM me and let me know what you are looking for

Hammer1963 · Jan 16, 2013

afazz said:
Very nice collection! Is that a BF634 in between the two 618's? I'm still looking for one, its the only discontinued model I'm missing to complete my collection.

I'm not a pro, but I do a lot of sheet metal forming. Here is my Snapon drawer:

I think if I had to choose a favorite, it would be the Blue Point BF613 with the 604 being a close second.

Afazz, Your collection has grown immensely and yes it is the illusive BF634.

oneandgone · Jan 17, 2013

Hammer1963 said:
Glad you like it. That's a Kraftech body hammer aka Kevin made. I made 2 of those about 15 years ago. I was doing a lot of restorations at the time and needed a hammer for tail fin repair on late 50's early 60's sleds.

No kidding? It's really cool, nice work!

oneandgone · Jan 17, 2013

Afazz, what is the hammer just right of center, upside down with two round heads? The picking tip of the 611 is pointing right at it...

afazz · Jan 17, 2013

Hammer1963 said:
Afazz, Your collection has grown immensely and yes it is the illusive BF634.

Yeah I bought a few more

I'm glad you found a BF634, now I won't have to bid against you on eBay!!

oneandgone said:
Afazz, what is the hammer just right of center, upside down with two round heads? The picking tip of the 611 is pointing right at it...

That would be the Blue Point BF613; one of my favorites. The small head is a medium crown (flatter than the BF618) and the large head has the standard low crown.

oneandgone · Jan 17, 2013

You're costing me money bud, now I'm going to have to find one of those.

I have a wanted list if you happen to have or see anything on it don't hesitate to shoot me a heads up.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=177334

ianguilly · Jan 17, 2013

I'll bite.

Side locker

ABRM · Jan 17, 2013

Would you body guys mind posting pics of the rest of your boxes? Just interested to see as a student what the pros got!

oneandgone · Jan 17, 2013

ABRM said:
Would you body guys mind posting pics of the rest of your boxes? Just interested to see as a student what the pros got!

I just bought a new cart and moved my most commonly used items from my toolbox and kitty litter bucket to it. When I did I took several pics of the cart. I'll post those in a sec. The only ones I have of inside my box I posted in this thread, guess I could put one up of the box as a whole though...

oneandgone · Jan 17, 2013

Couple more...

oneandgone · Jan 17, 2013

I added a few more things to the cart today as well. I wish I had one more drawer to put wrenches in.

afazz · Jan 17, 2013

I should get some of those yellow 3M sanding blocks since you all have them! I'm not a pro, but here are my tools:

Dynabrade 6" DA and Matco 2/3" mini DA, plus other power tools

More hammers, dollies, and spoons

ZRX61 · Jan 17, 2013

My pile, altho I'm more aircraft resto with a sideline in cars/bikes, depends what/who is paying

Sandpaper storage pulled out of a dumpster, perfectly sized for full sheets, but some shelves are cut for half sheets.

https://sphotos-b.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/600001_3702966705529_258591993_n.jpg

Middle hammer is bronze

https://sphotos-a.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/180215_3702993426197_922105288_n.jpg

Lead paddles

https://sphotos-a.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/181249_3702995626252_1775499949_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/250882_3702841022387_719833049_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/523006_3702846382521_78396352_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/599961_3702847902559_2016565883_n.jpg

https://sphotos-a.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/551775_3702851302644_1110177471_n.jpg

https://sphotos-a.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/403441_3702852462673_813034625_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/564249_3702857902809_2039469217_n.jpg

Teak slappers

https://sphotos-a.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/527703_3702854342720_1682478259_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/545107_3702854822732_937722288_n.jpg

https://sphotos-a.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/479695_3702858302819_1609797337_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/582357_3702857502799_1091196453_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/578072_3702857662803_1533391308_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/485612_3702927104539_225286993_n.jpg

ABRM · Jan 17, 2013

oneandgone said:
I just bought a new cart and moved my most commonly used items from my toolbox and kitty litter bucket to it. When I did I took several pics of the cart. I'll post those in a sec. The only ones I have of inside my box I posted in this thread, guess I could put one up of the box as a whole though...

I was looking at the HF US General carts. Are you happy with the 4 drawer black one, or would you recommend the 5 drawer red cart? Personally I like the black, but I am more concerned with usability rather than color.

e-tek · Jan 17, 2013

Afazz - for not being a pro - you got one hell of a pro set-up there!!!

ZRX61 - also a wicked set up! I've been doing this on and off for 30 years and don't have HALF of what you guys have!!

KLG73 · Jan 17, 2013

Keep them coming! I will try to get some more pictures of my set up tomorrow. :thumbup:

oneandgone · Jan 18, 2013

ABRM said:
I was looking at the HF US General carts. Are you happy with the 4 drawer black one, or would you recommend the 5 drawer red cart? Personally I like the black, but I am more concerned with usability rather than color.

I'm quite happy with it so far. There are two things I don't like though...

I don't have much faith in the lock and key, they both feel really cheap. For me it's not much of an issue, even before I used them I had decided to order a Snap On lock that is keyed to match my main box.

It does feel top heavy when moving it, like the top starts going before the wheels. Again, it's an easy fix. I'm going to add a strap to the back side from top of one corner to bottom of opposite corner.

Two things sold me on it over the red one... It matches my box, and I had a coupon (check hot deals section for one) that brings the cost of the black cart down to $99. That said, IF the red one came in black I would've had a much harder time not buying it.

oneandgone · Jan 18, 2013

ZRX61 and Afazz, you guys have some great stuff in there! Thanks to everyone for getting involved and sharing. I was starting to think Kevin and I were the only body guys on here, keep em comin!

oneandgone · Jan 18, 2013

I just got a NOS Porter Ferguson spoon that I thought I would share. It was wrapped in some smelly wax paper and coated in what I assume to be cosmolene.

Hammer1963 · Jan 18, 2013

You guys are posting some great pics of your Body tools. I'll have to take a few and slap them on here Monday or Tuesday.

I see a lot of quality in tool selection. It's apparent you guys take great pride in your trade/hobby by the choices in your tools, organization and how clean they are kept.

Hammer1963 · Jan 18, 2013

oneandgone said:
I just got a NOS Porter Ferguson spoon that I thought I would share. It was wrapped in some smelly wax paper and coated in what I assume to be cosmolene.

I'm officially jealous. That PF spoon is too cool !

Zeke · Jan 18, 2013

@ZRX61, finally some Vixen files.

e-tek · Jan 18, 2013

Here's the few hand tools I've collected over 30 years of doing body and restoration work

Goes to show you don't need the best of everything to do good work! Here's one of my favourite bumping dolly's:

larryq · Jan 19, 2013

Do you body shop guys have any materials you'd recommend to us newbies on how to reshape and repair metal? I've read 'The Key to metal bumping' (believe that's the title) that's considered the Bible of your field.

Any good videos or sites that show better how to do this, and which hammers / dollies are appropriate for which types of dents? Every time I try bumping with my 7 pc Eastwood set I don't seem to get anything straightened out, but I'm great at making noise.

Sk_noma · Jan 19, 2013

Another bodyman here, I'll post some pics of my box and tools once my new box is delivered. Only been in the trade about 5 years so still looking for some things.
One thing I'm always wondering is where is everyone getting their dollies? There's so many of them out there and I really could use some more.

kythri · Jan 19, 2013

afazz said:

What's the "pocket" on the side of your cart there?

oneandgone · Jan 19, 2013

larryq said:
Do you body shop guys have any materials you'd recommend to us newbies on how to reshape and repair metal? I've read 'The Key to metal bumping' (believe that's the title) that's considered the Bible of your field.

Any good videos or sites that show better how to do this, and which hammers / dollies are appropriate for which types of dents? Every time I try bumping with my 7 pc Eastwood set I don't seem to get anything straightened out, but I'm great at making noise.

The Fairmount/Martin book is a bit dated, but isn't a bad book. To be honest it's the only book I've read on the subject. I learned by doing with the guidance of a mentor and trial and error. Have you checked youtube for videos?

oneandgone · Jan 19, 2013

Sk_noma said:
Another bodyman here, I'll post some pics of my box and tools once my new box is delivered. Only been in the trade about 5 years so still looking for some things.
One thing I'm always wondering is where is everyone getting their dollies? There's so many of them out there and I really could use some more.

Congrats on the new box. I tend to buy a lot of older used dollies. If I were going to buy new I would probably buy either the Snap On or Martin dollies, but that's just my preference. Beta (based in Italy I think) makes what look to be nice copies of a lot of the old style dollies that no one else makes anymore, but they're high priced and have to be shipped from overseas.

Tools of the trade: Collision repair

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