How To Shrink Stainless Steel Sheet Metal

Using hand tools and machines.

How to shrink stainless steel sheet metal.

You have to adjust your mind to the concept that when you hammer on sheet metal with a steel hammer onto a steel dolly or anvil that you will expand or increase the surface area by thinning the metal. A lot of people think sheetmetal work is the hot rodding equivalent of rocket science. Follow along as i demonstrate how you can begin shaping metal with hand tools only. These shrinking discs work well on steel stainless aluminum brass and may on some other metals.

In this very short video i will show you how to repair shrink sheet metal and stiffen body panels the easy wa. How can you go about shaping metal with hand tools alone. The weld wants to shrink as it cools to room temperature but is restrained from doing so by the adjacent cold base metal. This restraint creates high residual tensile stress that causes the weld to act like a stretched rubber band with the workpiece holding the ends figure 1 for this reason when the clamps that hold the workpiece are removed the base metal is allowed to move or spring.

There are many ways to shrink. In mechanical engineering or medieval chemistry. Some shrinking can occur with only room temperature cooling but is greatly accelerated and multiplied by cooling with either compressed air or water squirt bottle or rag but water generally tends to provide quicker cooling. Here s a technique that was often used years ago and is still used today of how to shrink metal on a body panel after it has been damaged and stretched.

Need a fix for oil canning auto body panels.