All MetalShaping - Introduct or die!

Hello Shapers and Shapettes,

Rex's name is Rex. He is based in Adelaide, Southern Australia.

His father is a sheetmtal worker on the industrial folding/ducting side of the fence. Rex started metalwork simply as a hobby As a tight-arse it was a means of building his own project cars. It soon became an obsession. After many years of doing it as a hobby people started to want similar items. That grew into a small after hours paid hobby. Formal training wise, none, Rex is entirely self taught...

Fast forwards 10 years and after leaving His last full time job 4 years ago Rex decided to make a go if it as a self employed, perpetually cash-strapped but 'doing what he loves' job. Day to day His bread and butter is on the motorsport fabrication side of things. Things like manifolds, rollcages, pipework etc etc.

He keeps a collection of some of his work and other constructed stupidity in another car-based forum here:

http://www.nissansilvia.com/forums/i...ic=489564&st=0

Needs updating but it gives you a good indication what rattles about in his head.

In a broader sense Rex's interests are basically building things and learning how to build new things. Literally anything from wanky furniture to retaining walls to race car and motorcycle parts. A means of exorcising whatever bollocks idea is rattling in his head and making it flesh.

Rex exists simply to turn a collection of raw materials into something functional or at least interesting.

About a year ago he became obsessed with 'metalshaping' after seeing 'Motorcycle gas tanks' by Covell. It seemed like Mr Covell, Rex imagined would pray voodoo and black magic would shape the metal... A few books, DVD's, arse-loads of Zootube videos and He's here on AMS.com as its another resource basically.

He's managed to shape a couple of small projects, nothing particularly impressive or to a desired form, just very simple things for Himself that are finished when they look good enough or parts that have form simply as a result if their initial shape (the classic bowl or motorcycle guard for example). There are a couple of examples in the linked thread above.

At the moment though, the ability to shape a single piece metal into a desired pre-planned shape is pretty much non-existant and scarily seems an impossible destination to end up. That's where you lot come in.

The reason for wanting to learn metalshaping is another valuable skill set to allow him to build new and different things.

Ha, thought that was going to be short...

Kex Relway