The only thing I would add is if it isn't too cold to not use a glove on the hand holding the dollie. I like to hold the dollie flat enough in my hand so I can actually feel what part of the dollie I'm hitting as that force is telegraphed down through the dollie into my hand and that helps me keep it to the edge were centered whichever I'm looking for.
Excellent demonstration on how to use a hammer and dolly. Best I've ever seen in my 45 years of sheetmetal experience. This will be incredibly beneficial to all who watch. Great job!!
Using a transparent material was the suggestion of a subscriber. I just try to help a guy out when I can. You're welcome to share this video with others if you want. And thanks for the thumbs up! Nick
Use the cheapest or the most expensive hammers & dolly’s but sand and shine them up. We don’t need a sharp edge on a hammer to leave a flat panel with 500 half-moon indentations where the hammer left witness marks. Give a slight radius, make them smooth, practice and more practice will help you develop muscle memory. 50% of bolts are started by feel because we are not born with an eye on the end of our finger. Ok, that is weird!!! I started in the 60’s buying tools at a grocery store! The cheapest crap you could buy. I did not have money, so the “End Cap” of an isle was a semi-round bin with tools from globe-master! I think these where the worst of the worst, but I still have hammers and dolly set they sold for $3.00! I use them today but with brass jaws in my vise, I smoothed these with a large flat file. I bought stuff at farm auctions the where files from Starret, Wilkins, and other including Stanley. The made hinges during the civil war! Tune up your car, tune up you tools. Open the ratchet you got from your grandfather. Clean it, lube it, make it better. Same with the metal as Nick said. If it has rubberized undercoating sprayed on in 1972, it is full of rocks, sand and rusty just junk that use to be part of the vehicle you are working on. Warm it with a heat gun named “Wagner” from a garage sale that cost a $1. Get the putty knife from your grand dads tool box off the bottom. Sharpen it enough to clean it, but use the heat gun & grandpa’s scraper to remove the 50 year old junk off the back. Never gouge the metal, flat, push and go even. Who wants to turn 18 gauge metal into 21 gauge because you cut it? There is no 21 gauge….So don’t do it.
Hi Paul, As we've been building the custom 40 I've shown all these techniques and their results along the way. But this glass video brought everything together into one 'transparent' session. Glad you found it helpful and thanks very much for the sub! Nick
This is what I've been needing for 2 weeks! Just welded in some patches in my f100's doors, and have low spot creases at the welds, been driving me nuts how to bring those up. Thank you!
Glad I could help. Have you checked out this video. th-cam.com/video/NxmBW6zbJhM/w-d-xo.html A few pointers there as well. Any questions feel free to ask. Cheers!
This is the best explanation of this I've seen yet. Real lightbulb moment that it's possible to shrink a high spot with off-dolly strikes, because I recently was taught a technique to shrink the outer edge of a panel using a fixed anvil and off-anvil strikes, but it hadn't occurred to me it could be used with a dolly and in the middle of the panel.
Best explanation I've found so far on TH-cam about this subject. A nice upgrade would be to have a lateral/cut drawing of both bottom and top layers of the metal sheet in order to understand the stretching and shrinking of the metal. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Hey, Nick, could you do a short video feature about the hand planisher you built from the die grinder? Would love to get a look at it, or try to build one myself. Great video, thanks!
Hi Devon, How much damage is 'pretty good"? Your panels may be significantly stretched. After you work out the dents may need to shrink the panel with a 'shrinking disk' to restore it's original crown. If you're not familiar with a shrinking disk check out this video to see what I'm referring to th-cam.com/video/pSoHEieWQko/w-d-xo.html. Thanks for watching!. Any questions, feel free to ask. Nick
Perfect…. Every time I had a question as I was following along, you answered it. For instance …. how to deal with that sharp crease in the dent? And then you immediately described the process. Thanks Nick. This was incredibly helpful in reinforcing the techniques. 👍👍😎👍👍
When I 'bridge' the material from the underside with the dolly and use the flipper from the top, some material would be touching the dolly and some won't. The part that isn't touching will be normalized with the material that is - ie, the part that is resting on the dolly will come up a little and the part that comes in contact with flipper will come down a little. Also, in this video it was easier to show using the hammer(rather than the flipper - that has a larger face) on and off techniques, but many times I will only use a flipper. Hope that helps. You'll see what I mean when you do it. Thanks for watching.
I saw a technician resolve a dent by placing the dolly at the bottom of the dent and pushing upwards while hammer off dolly hitting around dent from above. What do you think?
That's great Dave! Mind if I ask what you'll be working on, what tools you currently have and your budget for equipment. Typically I don't favor one brand over another. Some brands I use made quality tools 10 years ago but as of late have really disappointed me. One brand however, Lancaster, who make shrinker/stretchers, are top notch and their price point reflects that quality.
Thanks Nick. Just to check my understanding -- is a low spot a flat place in an otherwise curved panel, and that's why its perimeter has to be stretched by on dolly hammering?
Yes, though it may not necessarily be flat, just lower than the surrounding metal. Check out this video th-cam.com/video/pSoHEieWQko/w-d-xo.html Hope it helps. Any questions don't hesitate to ask. Cheers, Nick
One question ..not sure if you mentioned it but what shape does the hammer have to be?..can it be dead flat or can it have a convex rounded shape to it??..Thanks
Hi Santos, Thank you very much for the kind words! Great question!! It depends. If the shape of the panel has A LOT of crown you can get away with a dead flat. However, 99.999% of the time I use one with a convex round shape as seen in the video so that the edges don't mar the sheet metal surface. Check out some of the metal finishing videos in the M40C - 1940 Ford Coupe and 51 Ford Shoebox playlists to see these techniques used to correct actual panel surfaces. I appreciate you supporting my channel. If there is anything else feel free to ask. N.
Using glass in this explanation was great, I don't think it could be any better, but it occurs to me another way you could show a "transparent" panel would be to set cameras directly above and directly below a metal panel and alpha-blend the two views in a video editor on top of each other. (Obviously you'd mirror-flip one camera's image when you overlay them.) That's what I thought it was going to be when I clicked this video.
The only thing I would add is if it isn't too cold to not use a glove on the hand holding the dollie. I like to hold the dollie flat enough in my hand so I can actually feel what part of the dollie I'm hitting as that force is telegraphed down through the dollie into my hand and that helps me keep it to the edge were centered whichever I'm looking for.
Great point Daniel! Gonna pin this tip at the top
*edge OR centered
I can feel the metal and the dollie with my hand but its all thumbs when typing on my phone! 🤪
Ehh estado buscando esta explicaciin de hace tiempo,Y por fin la encontre, gracias por compartir.
Encantado de ayudarte! 👍
Best video about hammer and dolly technique on TH-cam. Thanks for posting.
Thank you for watching!
Excellent demonstration on how to use a hammer and dolly. Best I've ever seen in my 45 years of sheetmetal experience. This will be incredibly beneficial to all who watch. Great job!!
Indeed, a good description of skill, talent, experience and techniques.
Better than any text book.
Thank you Chris!!
Best video hands down..very visual and clear...thanks for sharing your knowledge!
The best explanation I’ve seen yet. Great idea to use the glass, thankyou
Using a transparent material was the suggestion of a subscriber. I just try to help a guy out when I can. You're welcome to share this video with others if you want. And thanks for the thumbs up! Nick
Good job with window demo, that makes it so much easier to understand. Thank you
Glad it was helpful!
This is THE BEST tutorial in this subject on TH-cam!! Subscribed.
Thanks very much for the SUB!
Use the cheapest or the most expensive hammers & dolly’s but sand and shine them up. We don’t need a sharp edge on a hammer to leave a flat panel with 500 half-moon indentations where the hammer left witness marks. Give a slight radius, make them smooth, practice and more practice will help you develop muscle memory. 50% of bolts are started by feel because we are not born with an eye on the end of our finger. Ok, that is weird!!! I started in the 60’s buying tools at a grocery store! The cheapest crap you could buy. I did not have money, so the “End Cap” of an isle was a semi-round bin with tools from globe-master! I think these where the worst of the worst, but I still have hammers and dolly set they sold for $3.00! I use them today but with brass jaws in my vise, I smoothed these with a large flat file. I bought stuff at farm auctions the where files from Starret, Wilkins, and other including Stanley. The made hinges during the civil war!
Tune up your car, tune up you tools. Open the ratchet you got from your grandfather. Clean it, lube it, make it better. Same with the metal as Nick said. If it has rubberized undercoating sprayed on in 1972, it is full of rocks, sand and rusty just junk that use to be part of the vehicle you are working on. Warm it with a heat gun named “Wagner” from a garage sale that cost a $1. Get the putty knife from your grand dads tool box off the bottom. Sharpen it enough to clean it, but use the heat gun & grandpa’s scraper to remove the 50 year old junk off the back. Never gouge the metal, flat, push and go even. Who wants to turn 18 gauge metal into 21 gauge because you cut it? There is no 21 gauge….So don’t do it.
You got it!! You Sir have a wealth of knowledge, thanks for sharing with us.
Очень хорошо придумал со стеклом. Это лучший обучающий ролик.
Wow. Great video. I now know what I was doing wrong. Thank you!
Glad it helped!
Nick is the first time that I see you, gracie, molto piacere... ET toi magnique, congratulations, tanke gut 👍
Thanks! Hope it helps
Thanks Nick I'm a subscriber now. The glass was the best education.
Hi Paul, As we've been building the custom 40 I've shown all these techniques and their results along the way. But this glass video brought everything together into one 'transparent' session. Glad you found it helpful and thanks very much for the sub! Nick
Ty for taking the time to show us how too
Thank you, Larry Struck
This is logical, good teaching about metal deformation 👍🏻I'm a jeweler studying forming - this was VERY helpful, thank you
Thanks, glad I was able to help.
This is what I've been needing for 2 weeks! Just welded in some patches in my f100's doors, and have low spot creases at the welds, been driving me nuts how to bring those up. Thank you!
Glad I could help. Have you checked out this video. th-cam.com/video/NxmBW6zbJhM/w-d-xo.html A few pointers there as well. Any questions feel free to ask. Cheers!
This is the best explanation of this I've seen yet. Real lightbulb moment that it's possible to shrink a high spot with off-dolly strikes, because I recently was taught a technique to shrink the outer edge of a panel using a fixed anvil and off-anvil strikes, but it hadn't occurred to me it could be used with a dolly and in the middle of the panel.
Thanks Dennis!!
Very , very good tips. Explained beautifully, thank you.
Thank you Matt! Glad I could help you out. I'm working on more metal shaping Tricks and Tips videos.
Excellent idea using sheet of glass!
Thank you! Cheers!
Great tutorial for hammer dolly techniques. Thanks
Glad it was helpful! More videos like this are in the works
This is great! The glass example helped a lot.
Great to hear!!
Best explanation I've found so far on TH-cam about this subject.
A nice upgrade would be to have a lateral/cut drawing of both bottom and top layers of the metal sheet in order to understand the stretching and shrinking of the metal.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Great suggestion! See what I can set up for a 2.0 when I get a moment. Thanks for watching Jorge!!
Hey, Nick, could you do a short video feature about the hand planisher you built from the die grinder? Would love to get a look at it, or try to build one myself. Great video, thanks!
I'll see what I can do. Might incorporate it into a future panel shaping video.
Very informative I have a 52 with some pretty good hail damage I'm going to put this into effect and take my time
Hi Devon, How much damage is 'pretty good"? Your panels may be significantly stretched. After you work out the dents may need to shrink the panel with a 'shrinking disk' to restore it's original crown. If you're not familiar with a shrinking disk check out this video to see what I'm referring to th-cam.com/video/pSoHEieWQko/w-d-xo.html. Thanks for watching!. Any questions, feel free to ask. Nick
@iNVisionPrototypes there's enough across the whole roof and a few on the cowl
Amazing video!! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!!
Hi Jaison, glad you enjoyed it!
This was such a good demonstration!
Thanks Jimmy!!
Great tutorial😊JR
Glad you liked it!
Very good video and demonstration technique. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent...
Thank you! Cheers!
Awesome advice and what a great way to demonstrate, thank you.
Glad it was helpful for you!
Very educational....learned a lot... keep them comming
Thanks Joe, will do!
Thanks Nick! I know it takes alot of time to make these videos and sincerely appreciate it. Lots of great tips here👌
My pleasure!
Thanks!
You bet Pablo!
Perfect…. Every time I had a question as I was following along, you answered it. For instance …. how to deal with that sharp crease in the dent? And then you immediately described the process. Thanks Nick. This was incredibly helpful in reinforcing the techniques. 👍👍😎👍👍
Glad you found it helpful!
excellent video Nick. a wonderful tutorial, i certainly learnt something from it and will attempt to put this knowledge to use.
Great to hear Russell! Thanks for watching.
Great explanation
👍👍
That was a good schooling 😊
Thanks for watching!
Good video, thanks. Are we to assume that the flipper is always used 'on dolly'?
When I 'bridge' the material from the underside with the dolly and use the flipper from the top, some material would be touching the dolly and some won't. The part that isn't touching will be normalized with the material that is - ie, the part that is resting on the dolly will come up a little and the part that comes in contact with flipper will come down a little. Also, in this video it was easier to show using the hammer(rather than the flipper - that has a larger face) on and off techniques, but many times I will only use a flipper. Hope that helps. You'll see what I mean when you do it. Thanks for watching.
I saw a technician resolve a dent by placing the dolly at the bottom of the dent and pushing upwards while hammer off dolly hitting around dent from above. What do you think?
Good question! That will work. I covered that in the video at 4:52. Thanks for watching!!
Excellent tutorial, just starting my home project. Any recommendations on too brands?
That's great Dave! Mind if I ask what you'll be working on, what tools you currently have and your budget for equipment. Typically I don't favor one brand over another. Some brands I use made quality tools 10 years ago but as of late have really disappointed me. One brand however, Lancaster, who make shrinker/stretchers, are top notch and their price point reflects that quality.
Thanks Nick. Just to check my understanding -- is a low spot a flat place in an otherwise curved panel, and that's why its perimeter has to be stretched by on dolly hammering?
Yes, though it may not necessarily be flat, just lower than the surrounding metal. Check out this video th-cam.com/video/pSoHEieWQko/w-d-xo.html Hope it helps. Any questions don't hesitate to ask. Cheers, Nick
Fantastic demonstration buddy! Hope people can appeciate what this guy offers for free!
Thanks!
One question ..not sure if you mentioned it but what shape does the hammer have to be?..can it be dead flat or can it have a convex rounded shape to it??..Thanks
Hi Santos, Thank you very much for the kind words! Great question!! It depends. If the shape of the panel has A LOT of crown you can get away with a dead flat. However, 99.999% of the time I use one with a convex round shape as seen in the video so that the edges don't mar the sheet metal surface. Check out some of the metal finishing videos in the M40C - 1940 Ford Coupe and 51 Ford Shoebox playlists to see these techniques used to correct actual panel surfaces. I appreciate you supporting my channel. If there is anything else feel free to ask. N.
Using glass in this explanation was great, I don't think it could be any better, but it occurs to me another way you could show a "transparent" panel would be to set cameras directly above and directly below a metal panel and alpha-blend the two views in a video editor on top of each other. (Obviously you'd mirror-flip one camera's image when you overlay them.) That's what I thought it was going to be when I clicked this video.
Interesting idea. Perhaps next time. Thanks for watching.
❤❤❤❤❤❤
Thanks for watching!, hope it helped!
Im still confused because a low and a high are just perspectives... so why is the technique different? Ill watch again.
Ah so the glass hammer that the guys at the shop sent me out to get on my first day DOES exist!
LOL!