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AutoBody Tools

Hades12

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Jan 13, 2006
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211
Location
Union Mills NC
I need to start buying some tools for autobody work, Any good sites you guys use?

Right now I am looking for a big Hammer and Dolly set, and sand paper holders.
 
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Uncle Buck

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Mar 7, 2005
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If you are not doing that for a living, you can find many high end dollies, spoons, files and hammers on the cheap used at flea mkts pawn shops and the like. I have a rather substantial assortment of all that I have bought through the years. As has already been said, never cut corners on body/fender tools, you will really be sorry when you transfer ugly boogers from tools to your sheetmetal! A plus to knowing the names of all the good brands, including the old now almost fotgotten names such as Fairbanks will be that few people will know the value of the forgotten names. That is where getting them cheap comes in, additionally, many of the uneducated have no idea how expensive quality hammers, dollies etc.. are. Once you have educated yourself as to what brands are good, and what is ****, it's like shooting fish in a barrel!
 

Stanger

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Oct 25, 2006
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Location
Alton, IL
I am very happy with my Facom purchase. Just $300 on clearance at the local tool store and somewhere around 18 pieces. Very good quality. The only bad part is that it weighs in around 60lbs. Here are some pics. Buy good quality body tools, you won't regret it.
Grant
 

Uncle Buck

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Stanger said:
I am very happy with my Facom purchase. Just $300 on clearance at the local tool store and somewhere around 18 pieces. Very good quality. The only bad part is that it weighs in around 60lbs. Here are some pics. Buy good quality body tools, you won't regret it.
Grant


Well done indeed!
 
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Hades12

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Jan 13, 2006
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Union Mills NC
I have found that Fairbanks is now Martin, I think,

Martin has a 25 peice set and after a lot of searching I found it for sale on Summit for $580, Bit out of the budget for today.

Dad had several hammers and Dollies in his tools so I got those and will be buying some sanding boards and maybe a stud gun next week.
 

AndrewM

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Apr 4, 2006
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Location
Waco, TX
May sound weird, but Sears has a Martin 7-piece set for $130. Sears part number 00950467000, Martin part number 647K. Everywhere else sells it for almost twice that price. I bought one. The real deal. :) Comes in a big Martin box with foam that surrounds each of the tools.
 

ZRX61

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Aug 15, 2006
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Solar Blight Valley, SoCal
www.autobodytoolmart.com

A lot of Eastwoods stuff is just Horrible Fright junk with a 800% mark up.. but they do carry Martin.... & sell it for more than any other website out there...
I order from ABTM quite often & if the order is in before noon I have the stuff on my doorstep the next morning.
 

Uncle Buck

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AndrewM said:
May sound weird, but Sears has a Martin 7-piece set for $130. Sears part number 00950467000, Martin part number 647K. Everywhere else sells it for almost twice that price. I bought one. The real deal. :) Comes in a big Martin box with foam that surrounds each of the tools.


I forgot about that, I saw it in their current tool catalog, yea, a great deal.
 

ephotrod

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Jun 24, 2006
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Location
Texas
The best tools that was given to me was a suggestion on getting the Key to Bumping Metal by Frank T Sargent. I also picked up a set of Martin Auto Body Tools. This book will advise what hammer and dolly is needed a general.

"The larger of the two working faces is low crowned; i.e. comparatively flat, its used for dinging on the dolly. The smaller working face is high crowned; i.e. more rounded. It is used for dinging off the dolly. "

When I read this i understood i need to hammers at least one with a medium sized pick and a good dolly. The guys on the H.A.M.B. who work metal confirmed my understanding.

All the tools and book can be found on the summit racing site. Note: that is where i located the book at the cheapest of cost.
Josh
 

JayL

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Apr 17, 2008
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Manila, Philippines
We might need this or not. If used it will be once in a blue moon and probably not for fenders or the like. Do you think there is a difference between what these vendors sell?

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200228724_200228724

http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/...DUCT&iMainCat=504&iSubCat=505&iProductID=1704

http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/p-11665-14367.aspx

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00061SFXW/?tag=atomicindus08-20

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000IAWLBS/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Looks to me that these all come from the same source but I might be wrong. Maybe one is better than the other.
 

Uncle Buck

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We might need this or not. If used it will be once in a blue moon and probably not for fenders or the like. Do you think there is a difference between what these vendors sell?

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200228724_200228724

http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/...DUCT&iMainCat=504&iSubCat=505&iProductID=1704

http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/p-11665-14367.aspx

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00061SFXW/?tag=atomicindus08-20

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000IAWLBS/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Looks to me that these all come from the same source but I might be wrong. Maybe one is better than the other.

No offense intended, but you can pick whichever one of those you might like one should be just as poor a quality as another of what is shown. Unfortunately with body hammers, dollies and spoons you really have two choices if you want quality tools (1) Buy quality known brands such as Fairbanks, Martin, Old Proto/Plomb, Snap-On or even older Craftsman brand used for less money over time, or (2) Dig deep and pay high prices for good quality tools new. Body and fender tools are one of those areas where cheap is simply not an option, regardless of whether you do body work for a living or simply play at home. All you can ever hope to do with cheap body tools is bad body work! :beer:
 
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cruiser808

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Mar 9, 2008
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Hawaii
UB, are you thinking of Fairmont? I have a number of old Fairmont autobody hammers and dollies. Great stuff.
 

JeepsAreBuilt

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Nov 24, 2006
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The Beautiful NorthWest
www.autobodytoolmart.com is a great site.. but they don’t always have the best prices. One item that they have a good price on and that I bought.. is the Morgan Knokker set. eastwood.com has some good stuff.. just have to figure out whats good, then get it on sale/discount. They have some martin hammers and dollies which are my favorites. I remember buying my first hunk of metal for nearly $40 ! Good dollies and hammers are a day and light difference comparing to the cheap stuff. For sanding blocks.. I'd recommend the durablocks. Ebay has good deals, eastwood has them on sale sometimes. Hutchins make great boards too. You might want to look into a resistance welder instead of a stud gun.. dentfix makes good ones and some are low priced.
 

ZRX61

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Solar Blight Valley, SoCal
As much as it pains me to say it...
Horrible Fright dollies have improved beyond all reconition over the old **** (some, not all). They have 2 post dollies for about $15 each which are well worth the price. It's actually worth getting 2 of each so you can modify them if you have access to a Mill.
Spoons are easily made from old leaf springs: small imports for light spoons, Freightliner for the REALLY heavy spoons & domestic for the others inbetween :)
 

ZRX61

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ok, quiz time. Who knows the nickname for this particular hammer? Saw one on a Matco truck a while back (relabled Martin) & the tool guy almost fell over when I asked "How much for the .........?"
 

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Uncle Buck

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I do not know, wait and see what some other guys say, perhaps the fiberglass handle Craftsmans are made by Martin as well. I prefer the fiberglass handles though all of mine are wood, but I also prefer the Martin brand to Craftsman! If I could not find out who makes the Craftsman tools I would buy the wood handled Martins myself. :thumbup:
 

chad s

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Apr 3, 2006
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Baltimore, MD
ok, quiz time. Who knows the nickname for this particular hammer? Saw one on a Matco truck a while back (relabled Martin) & the tool guy almost fell over when I asked "How much for the .........?"

This is a Fender bumper. Probably not a tool needed for the beginner!
 

eschoendorff

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Feb 6, 2005
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Location
Michigan
I like wood and I got my donkey d**k off the cornwell truck for $30 on sale :)

Wiggles_BigBen.jpg



:bounce:
 

e-tek

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Dec 19, 2007
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Saskatoon, SK
The best spoons I'v ever used are made from old leaf-springs, the best prybars from old Torsion Bars, the best slap/shrink hammers from old files, the best hammers....well here you don't cut corners.:thumbup:
Also, a great pick dollie (you would use it behind a panel you are picking a low spot up in) is a lead one, made by melting a couple leading sticks into a can, letting it cool and removing the can. Wrap in duct tape to decrease your contact time and absorb even more of the sharpness from the pick.
 

ZRX61

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A fiend of mine who is a long time body man calls it a donkey d**k


Around here they are called horse c*cks & the guy on the Matco truck had never heard them called that. In fact he told me I was only the second guy who knew what it was for & it has been on his truck for about 5 years. However, he has an airport route so doesn't visit bodyshops.
 
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