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  #1  
Old 06-27-2016, 09:38 AM
Shawnm Shawnm is offline
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Default English Wheel after shaping with hammer

Hi:

I'm a novice making my first set of parts for an inner wheel well on a micro car. I divided it into four sections which have about a 3" radius that is consistent along the diameter of the wheel wells , which is about 2 feet.

Now that the pieces pretty much fit they are still bumpy from hammering. I have an English wheel (Harbor Freight) which has allowed to get the pieces smoother but they are not super smooth.

My question is how to get them smoother without losing the shape I took many hours to achieve? I've attached some pictures, and suggestions would be appreciated.

smoother.jpg

rougher.jpg

thanks
shawn
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Old 06-27-2016, 10:19 AM
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Jacob Jacob is offline
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You appear to be off to a good start.

Generally speaking, wheel until completely smooth. If you find that you are losing the shape in the wheeling process, you can either wheel more in the areas where more shape is needed, or put more shape in it and expect it the come back a bit. Don't worry about going back and forth a few times.

What methods are you using to shape the part? Just a bag? Tuck shrink? Stump? What thickness of material are you using?

As with learning any new skill, practice is the key. Like riding a bicycle, it is difficult until is isn't.
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Shrinking using a stump:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HAFndATFo4&t=7s

Making a reverse using a stump:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PlF1BoMCQI

Circular Truss E-Wheel
http://allmetalshaping.com/showthread.php?t=15419
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  #3  
Old 06-27-2016, 11:12 AM
crystallographic crystallographic is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawnm View Post
Hi:

I'm a novice making my first set of parts for an inner wheel well on a micro car. I divided it into four sections which have about a 3" radius that is consistent along the diameter of the wheel wells , which is about 2 feet.

Now that the pieces pretty much fit they are still bumpy from hammering. I have an English wheel (Harbor Freight) which has allowed to get the pieces smoother but they are not super smooth.

My question is how to get them smoother without losing the shape I took many hours to achieve? I've attached some pictures, and suggestions would be appreciated.

Attachment 37789

Attachment 37790

thanks
shawn
Hey Shawn,
The wheel is not magical and therefore cannot suddenly make a part smooth by just running it back and forth in the machine.

You have to wheel specifically the areas that need smoothing - and the wheel stretches as it planishes so you have to plan ahead for that when making your rough shapes.

There are other machines that planish without any stretching but not the wheel.
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Old 06-27-2016, 12:40 PM
Shawnm Shawnm is offline
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thanks for the advice. I'm using 20 gauge steel, a shot bag a "stump" and a variety of hammers and slappers that I made.

hammer.jpg

stump hammers and slappers.jpg

Shawn
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Old 06-27-2016, 08:59 PM
BTromblay BTromblay is offline
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Hi,

Think of the English wheel as a rolling hamer. An Ewheel can stretch material in a fast way, if you use high pressure. With the harbor freight model, it is hard to get that kind of pressure due to frame flex. As you wheel, you will find that it will change the shape a little. But, it will be very little, you can re-form with a hammer and wheel again and so on and so on... It may sound like a long drawn out process, but you will find in time that it goes quick, it just takes practice.

Cheers and good luck with your project.

Bill
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Old 06-27-2016, 09:23 PM
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Steve Hamilton Steve Hamilton is offline
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Shawn nice work on your home brew tools!

You will get there, it is not something you learn in a week, it takes years to get real good.
The best education is to observe closely how the panel is changing shape with each step of the process.
Go slow and check often the fit of the panel to the buck or pattern.

Steve
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Old 06-28-2016, 06:14 AM
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You made those tools? Nice!
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Shrinking using a stump:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HAFndATFo4&t=7s

Making a reverse using a stump:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PlF1BoMCQI

Circular Truss E-Wheel
http://allmetalshaping.com/showthread.php?t=15419
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  #8  
Old 06-29-2016, 07:00 AM
Shawnm Shawnm is offline
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I'm able to get close on the final shape, then when I wheel a bit more I seem to lose it somewhere else. It appears like I have "overshaped" parts of it and the only way i can think to get back is to hammer it. I've heard of other shrinking methods like a stainless steel wheel you put on a grinder but i don't have one of those.

So i had a couple of thoughts:

Use a bigger diameter wheel (i've been using a 3" as that is my approximate radius of the tightest part) to flatten the areas and then reshape and then trim the pieces if they get bigger.

Just do tiny wheelings in a cross hatch pattern to work specific areas.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, i think i'm approaching the "frustrated" stage that everyone probably goes through.

thanks
Shawn
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Old 06-29-2016, 08:24 AM
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Kerry Pinkerton Kerry Pinkerton is offline
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Shawn, are you wheeling off the edge? If you are, you are releasing the stretch that was created by blocking and wheeling. Shape is constrained by the surrounding metal but that metal is under stress and if you wheel across the boundary, it stretches quite easily.

On stiffer machines, you can wrap a piece of masking tape around the edges. You will 'feel' the tape when it hits the rollers and stop before you go over the edge.
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  #10  
Old 06-29-2016, 09:30 AM
Shawnm Shawnm is offline
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thanks! I will try the tape as I find I go off the edge a lot.

I also have a fair amount of excess metal that is distorting my read of the panel. I'll cut off the excess metal to the edge of the tape and see if that helps me get where i want to be.

Shawn
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