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Sheet Metal for beginners?!

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07travis

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Jan 2, 2012
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Watertown, SD
I've been a long time creeper of garage journal, but I haven't posted a lot. After seeing many of the amazing things you guys are capable of on here I figured I was in the right place! :bowdown:I'm a do-it-yourselfer and like to do anything I can myself vs. having someone else do it for me. Recently I've been wanting to get into sheetmetal work and fabricating and eventually work up to attempting some to do some of the body work on my 72 c10 myself. Problem is I don't know much about sheet metal work, or any of the basics of it.:headscrat I'm wondering if there are some good books out there to buy, and what tools are good ones to have for a beginner like myself? Any help/tips & tricks are greatly appreciated!
 
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mygarageone

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Oct 16, 2013
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Munising , Mich
Most of what you need for a beginner are basic hand tools , it takes a lot of time to learn how to use the many tools the pro's use to actual make car replacement parts . Like curved , round and odd shaped metal.
If it were me I would spend time watching you tube videos on car metal work. There are ton's of video's there. Watch and learn and then attempt . You'll find it's not as easy as it looks.
 
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Notgrownup

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May 5, 2014
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Snow Hill NC
Ball peen hammer and dolly set goes a long way...amazing what a little tap will end up doing to steel...get a old fender or hood from a junk yard and practice....
 
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countryroad82

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Mar 18, 2011
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Kentucky
Best part about metal is unlike wood, if you cut it too short, you can always weld back! I learned by diving in head first, but I also had my best friend who is in the business coming by and standing over my shoulder to tell me how to do something faster or easier. This was before the days of fast internet and YouTube though and if feel one can learn just as easy by watching those. Books are sometimes hard to follow for me unless there are lots of pictures, I have always been able to learn more by watching someone or by doing and figuring it out myself. It's like one time my boss asked me if I could run a dozer, I said sure knowing all I had ever done before is jacked around with one. After a few hours of pushing dirt around I can RUN a dozer, OPERATE it like a pro..... meh. Just get out there and try!
 
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Hop2it

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Oct 5, 2013
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95
Location
Fairport ny
I would highly recommend David Gardner's DVD it shows how to make panels with just hand tools it is very informative.also I would recommend checking out a couple of blogs allmetalshaping.com and metalmeet.com both sights have links to David Gardners videos and others.
Hope this helps,Doug
 
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toomanytoyzz

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May 11, 2012
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Malvern, PA
If you are willing to put the time in, and have some of the tools you can do what another poster already mentioned and buy a fender or door at the junk yard and use that to practice on.

You'll need a pretty decent array of tools to begin doing sheetmetal work if you don't already own them. For starters you'd want at least one decent brand body hammer. I use Martin, but there are plenty other brands to choose from (S/O, MAC, Matco, Cornwell, Craftsman). You'll need a couple of dollies as well as a (4" or 4 1/2")grinder, die grinder, D/A sander, assortment of sanding blocks as well as a bunch of sandpaper. You'll also need a paint gun for primer and one for paint, and possibley one for clear if you are planning on using two stage paint. You can go the cheap route and wind up with decent results, or buck up for nicer stuff that will outlast the HF ****.

An air compressor is also a must. The bigger the better, but remeber if you will be painting to have water seperators in line to avoid the moisture from contaminating the paint.

This should get you started. There are plenty of other tools to get the job done easier and with much better results. For expample a mig welder is probably the most useful tool if you are doing alot of sheetmetal work on your truck. There are plenty to choose from, but I'd stick with one of the big three (Hobart, Miller, Lincoln) since they have good customer service and parts availability. A stud welder is also an invaluable tool for removing dents on a panel. You can see how this keeps unraveling. Thank God I have all these tools in my arsenal. If not my wife would leave me if I had to start from scratch.
 
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8man

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Oct 16, 2013
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Bryan, Texas
Like was said before, it's just steel. Weld, chop, weld, hammer and dolly, grind, sand...
Jump in on a junk piece and learn. Welding was my first most important step, now I'm moving on to the next most important step. Good luck and have fun, "it's a journey not a race". Sage advice from WH.
 
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rsanter

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Dec 22, 2007
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Location
visalia ca
Look at a site called metalmeet
Very advanced but will give you,some good ideas and approaches

Start working with the metal. Go get a body shop to,give you a couple bent fenders of go buy a junker car that you can work on and not be afraid it screw it up

Bob
 
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Jackfre

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Dec 26, 2010
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4,406
Location
N CA
Check out Eastwood for tools and books as well.

I can make almost anything out of sheet metal (gross exaggeration). The idea that I would then have to make another one the same in all regards, but looking in the other direction just blows my mind
 
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rsanter

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Dec 22, 2007
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Location
visalia ca
With practice I have learned to make flat sheet metal into shaped parts.
Next I will be trying to Learn to make them the shape I wanted

Bob
 
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PCO6

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Dec 25, 2008
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4,573
Location
Newmarket, Ontario
rsanter said:
With practice I have learned to make flat sheet metal into shaped parts.
Next I will be trying to Learn to make them the shape I wanted

Bob
Click to expand...
I can usually make one of something that is usable. The tricky part is making a second one to match. :lol:
 
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Professur

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Apr 7, 2010
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Mo-Ray-Al, K-bec, Ka-Na-Da
Brilliant recommendations across the board. The one thing I will add is ... sheet metal is female. It will do exactly what you don't want it to all the time. Just when you think you've got it figured out ... *boing* oil can, dead centre. But if you love it, treat it right ... massage and caress it, and sometimes it likes to get ***** and you have to smack it about some (use hearing protection, they don't make ball gags for sheet metal) you come to understand it. Then your missus starts giving you dirty looks for caressing a fender like it was a woman's bottom .... and you're there.
 
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Vegaman_Dan

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Jun 1, 2012
Messages
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Location
Pacific, WA
Sheet metal is really like clay- it can be hardened or soft, squeezed and stretched. Knowing how to 'move' the metal where you want is an art by itself- but it's an art anyone can learn with plenty of hands on time. Youtube is indeed very good to get some ideas, as are the web sites listed earlier.

Just learning how to take out a ding in a door or fender, or cutting out rust and fabricating a patch panel will teach you a lot. Grab a scrap door or hood at the wrecking yard to practice on. Don't worry about fillers or such- that's finish work. First you have to massage the metal back to shape.

Knowing how dents form, the stresses involved, and how to work in reverse to bring metal back to the original surface goes a long way. Hammer off and hammer on dolly methods, shrinking and stretching, using heat and ice- there's a lot of fascinating ways to do things, often multiple approaches to do the same thing.

If you want fabrication projects, then making a simple rectangular drawer or tray is a good start.
 
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