News
1 2
Aluminum Drag Bike Rear Fender
I just finished shaping a drag bike fender from .060” aluminum. I took dimensions from the wire copper form that the customer made and built a buck with ½” plywood. I changed the radius on the top edge to a 4” radius to give the transition areas a smoother lead in edge. 
View Gallery
Wolfgang Schroeder Traveled from Germany for a One On One Advanced Workshop
Wolfgang Schroeder traveled from Germany for a one on one advanced workshop. While he was in the shop he shaped the front fender for a '66 GT40 MKI from aluminum and the front of a '48 Chevy hood. Wolfgang stayed in the area for a couple of weeks and traveled around the area getting tours of local hot rod shops. He also came by and helped me put the finishing touches on the restoration of the P13.
View Gallery
Original Camel Hump Heads Cloned From Aluminum ARF Heads
I just finished up machining two sets of heads for a customer replicating camel hump heads for a Camaro restoration. He wanted high performance heads that looked just like the originals. I machined the logos off and then machined the inset by hand around a 3/8” thick steel guide. After the rough machining was completed I dialed in the edges with carbide bits and sanders to detail the edges and replicate the edges. I completed the heads by hammering the smoothed areas with a pick hammer then hammered forty grit sandpaper to roughen up the surface to make it look like the factory castings.
View Gallery
Machined Dies for Local Restoration Shop
One of our students from a past Metal Shaping Workshop works for a local restoration shop. Their shop was so impressed with one of our planishing hammers they purchased one for their shop and asked us to machine a set of our exclusive lower dies sets for their hammer. We machined a set for them from S7 tool steel and had them hardened to 56 Rockwell C scale. The set includes; six 2 ½” diameter dies (radiuses; 0,36,24,12,9,6) 1 ½” diameter die with 0 radius and linear stretch die. We also have a upper die set available which includes; 2 3/8” diameter 0 radius, 2- 1 ½” diameter 0 radius(1/16” and 1/8” radius on edge), reverse curve with constant 6” radius, and reverse curve die with additional side clearance(x axis is 3” radius and y axis is 1.5” radius). Please contact us if you are interested in a die set for your planishing hammer (please note: sets are made to order).
View Gallery
Personal Consultation for Aluminum Hood from Concept Car
Everyone can use a hand one time or another. A local restoration shop is building an aluminum body from scratch over a Corvette chassis. They started making a huge hood (measuring almost five feet square) and ran into a couple problems with the surface becoming warped after welding the two seams running through the center. They asked if I would give them a hand fixing it and they spent the day at my shop helping me stretch the weld seams and planish the entire surface smooth. It was a challenge because of the size of the panel, after hours of shoulder abuse with the portable planishing hammer we saved the hood.
View Gallery
Auburn Spare Tire Wells Shaping Project
I just finished up a pair of 1932 Auburn spare tire wells for a customer. I shaped them in two halves and welded the seam down the center. Only the weld seam was lightly sanded, the remaining surface is straight out of the machine. We also duplicated the gussets and mounting brackets and located them from the original.
View Gallery
20 Rear End Brake Tab Clips Fabrication
The odder the request for a project from a customer the better. One of my regular customers asked me to duplicate 20 rear end brake tab clips for his restoration shop specializing in Camaros. I made a simple fixture that clamped the tabs when they were bolted together, then simply hammered it around with a corking tool and hammer. The two locating holes became the spot weld holes.
View Gallery
Old Cars Weekly Interview Article
Recently at the Hot Rod Restoration Trade Show I was interviewed by John Gunnell. He wrote an article from the interview for a weekly newspaper type magazine called Old Cars Weekly. Thanks John, for the interview and the nice article.
Live Metal Shaping Demos at The Hot Rod Restoration Trade Show March 23-24, 2012
We just got back from doing our metal shaping demos at the Lucus Oil Stadium in Indy. It was a lot of work moving all of our heavy equipment in a 24’ box truck. It was all worth it once the crowds of people gathered as the machines fired up. The interest from the shows attendees was outstanding and the questions people had were even better. 
View Gallery
Aluminum Shaping Demo of 1966 GT40 MKI Frontend
I wanted to shape a demo for an upcoming show demonstrating how efficient shaping large panels with a planishing hammer can be compared to the English wheel. I decided to use my future project as the test dummy. I patterned my GT40 front end with five large sections and roughed out the front end in five days. After the show it will become a wall hanger, I will spend a lot more time dialing the panels in when I start building my MKI.
View Gallery