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Tech Spam thread - because 1/4" BSP gets 5 hand spans to the jiggawatt


Roman

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Want to get a power file, body saw, and a 90 degree die grinder for all of the ease of rust repairs. Want to make it an enjoyable experience, rather than the uphill struggle i usually set myself up for. hah.

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Regarding rust work tools;

I have a set of decent snips, and basically never used them for the bodywork I did. They are a pain to use, and thin/bend/curl the edges of the metal. I much preferred to just use a thin cutoff wheel.

For my power file, which I can also agree is very handy, I got one of these as recommended in another thread on there somewhere, https://www.thetoolshed.co.nz/product/3433-toolshed-file-sander and some green belts from Aliexpress (which way outlast the toolshed black belts)

and for the body saw I used, it was just a cheapie from Supercheap, and it cut through sheetmetal like butter. https://www.supercheapauto.co.nz/p/blackridge-blackridge-air-body-saw/572837.html#q=body saw&lang=en_NZ&vid=cMJ9mxC5VJn1zET7zKHliw%3D%3D&start=2 It aint perfect, but its cheap and does the job.

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2 minutes ago, Goat said:

More panel repair questions, What do people find more useful for making rust repair panels, a sheet metal brake, or a shrinker/stretcher?

I have neither and made do, but did think in hindsight that a shrinker/stretcher would've been handy for curves like wheel arches

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I've always used the vice for rough and ready folding of patches, though that leaves an average finish.
Stretcher/shrinker will be great for recreating slightly curved boot lips etc. Where i've just michael moused that before and welded along the right angle (which makes for a bit of an average repair)

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I have a 1.2m wide brake. When you need it, you need it.

Remade a lot of long angled panel supports for my ute tray, can do sills on it too with enough small bends.

But if you aren't doing long sections that want to look crisp, I think a shrinker stretcher would be more useful.  Lots of little boot seams, wheel arches etc.

Buy some lengths of angle iron maybe

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Shrinker/stretcher is great. I remember doing the gutters on my boot and it made the job a breeze. I also have a 3in1 300mm folder/cutter/roller. Handy kit but mainly just used for pissing around than the rust repairs. The brake works ok for folding repair panels though. I got the bottom of my doors profile made by local shop as they were quite long. I supplied material and instructions and I think it was 50 bucks for labour charge. 

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Has anyone made their own dimple die(s) ?  I only need 1 size, I need some speed holes in the escort. I've seen a few YouTube videos on how to make your own but if anyone done it got any tips/tricks? Is it cost effective or should I just pay the $150 for one.  I assume once I buy one I'll find holes to swage with it. 

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3 minutes ago, MightyJoe said:

Has anyone made their own dimple die(s) ?  I only need 1 size, I need some speed holes in the escort. I've seen a few YouTube videos on how to make your own but if anyone done it got any tips/tricks? Is it cost effective or should I just pay the $150 for one.  I assume once I buy one I'll find holes to swage with it. 

How big? I have a few

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43 minutes ago, MightyJoe said:

Has anyone made their own dimple die(s) ?  I only need 1 size, I need some speed holes in the escort. I've seen a few YouTube videos on how to make your own but if anyone done it got any tips/tricks? Is it cost effective or should I just pay the $150 for one.  I assume once I buy one I'll find holes to swage with it. 

3d printed ones work pretty good I hear

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18 hours ago, Bling said:

Shrinker/stretcher is great. I remember doing the gutters on my boot and it made the job a breeze. I also have a 3in1 300mm folder/cutter/roller. Handy kit but mainly just used for pissing around than the rust repairs. The brake works ok for folding repair panels though. I got the bottom of my doors profile made by local shop as they were quite long. I supplied material and instructions and I think it was 50 bucks for labour charge. 

what 3-in-1 machine did you buy ?
saw one recently and thought 'what a fecken cool thing' , but alas was designed for only 0.6mm for flashings

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I bought one of these a couple of years ago, thinking it'd be handy https://www.machineryhouse.co.nz/s648

I've barely used it and regret spending all that money on it (should've got shrinker/stretchers instead). The pressbrake has been handy once or twice, but it's nothing i haven't been able to do in my vice with a hammer, quicker and with less setup. The guillotine can only cut pretty thin steel, unless you strip the whole thing and set it up properly it struggles with 1mm. The rolls work, but ive only needed it once.

Theres a couple of good videos on youtube about them and how when you get them you MUST strip them down completely and rebuild them, as the assembly and tolerances they come with from factory are terrible and it'll struggle to give any results let along good ones

I should probably look at just selling it, actually.

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@smokin'joe I have previous version of the above unit. I signed up to mailing list as they gave decent discount codes to use. Was $330 all up, which wasn't too bad at the time. Thickness it will bend / roll will depend on width. Can bend some ok thickness sheet if it's not too wide.

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