Quote:
Originally Posted by Mavigogun
Thanks for the reflection. I feel confident in being able to move metal with the aid of hammers, bags, and wooden formers. My concern is final surface refinement- I want to avoid any sign of micro discontinuities or rippled appearance if parts are highly polished; I reckoned a wheel might help with that, but don’t really know. Maybe, instead of a wheel, I would be better off just working with fractionally thicker gauge stock, refining with dolly and slapper, then abrasion.
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Planishing by hand.
P1070627 copy b.jpg
Dolly on bottom, striker on top. (Curved = "spoon," shown here ...
Straight striker = "slapper." (I think of it as ironing a shirt.)
Will also stretch, if needed, using harder whacks.
289 Cobra hand working.jpg
Here is some aluminum body work that was smoothed by use of the hand tools shown. Like you mention, smoothing the metal by hand planishing and then filing carefully with the Vixen (curved tooth body file) on the wooden handle. Old school.
(Sorry that I don't have images for you of the Honda Gold Wing trike under construction, w/aluminum bodywork.
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