I found the best book on body work I've seen so far. It called The Key to Metal Bumping by Frank Sargent. The best part is it was originally published in 1939 to teach body shop workers the best way to do collision repair in the days when panels were straightened and bondo didn't exist. It is distributed by the Martin Tool co (who still make the best body hammers and dollies today) and is in the fourth printing. The instructions and illustrations were last revised in the 50's, so the vehicles shown being repaired are from the same era as our trucks. It promotes the Fairmount method, similar to the techniques the paintless dent repair people use today to remove dents by reversing the damage and working the dent's ridges and valleys to allow much of the panel to straighten itself rather than just beating the low spots up, doing new damage to an otherwise minimally damaged area then filling over it.
The book has the best explanation of what causes a dent and why it won't just pop back into place when hammered from behind I have seen, as well as explaining the difference between on dolly and off dolly hammering and when each is appropriate to use. Of course it goes into depth on the various Martin hammers and dollys, but it's the first time I have ever seen the difference between a low, medium and high crowned hammer and dolly faces explained, as well as the proper technique for selecting and using a hammer and dolly.
It covers metal finishing, leading, torch welding and shrinking. It has a chapter on short cuts and tricks including making and repurposing tools.

The best part is that this 130 page soft cover book is available for 12-15.00 from various sources on the web. I recently bought a copy on Newegg Newegg.com - Computer Parts, Laptops, Electronics, and More! for 11.99 with free shipping. I have also seen it on Summit and Eastwood's sites for a few dollars more. It's jam packed with clear instructions, explanations and information for new and experienced body workers alike so it's a real bargain. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

 

I'll def be picking one up soon. As I am new to body work and be fun to learn.Thank you for the information.

 

Thanks Chuck. I just asked Santa for one.

 

It is a great reference. While not an expert bodyman by any stretch, I have been able to reverse some dents in a satisfactory novice fashion by following the guidelines promoted by Mr Sargent.

This book pops up as a suggestion for anyone adding a hammer/dolly set to a shopping cart on the Eastwood site. In this case, the technology delivers.

DW

 

thanks for the suggestion, I'll order one now.
Bill

 

I've had this book for several years now (3rd edition), and yep, it came with my order of Martin hammers and dollies from Eastwood. Well worth it!

 

Thanks, AX.

 

I googled it and it came up as available as a PDF, so i could just read it right on my computer screen, way easy. John

 

I too first downloaded it off the internet, but it's a scan of the 3rd edition of the book done some time ago with a low quality scanner. The information is readable (mostly, some pages have the edge of the text cut off) but the photos are mostly black blobs.
It's important to be able to see the details in the photos to understand the instructions. I was still impressed and it was inexpensive enough to want a good copy for my "library" where I could study it in detail, it's there now.

 

Amazon has one left at $10.xx
I bought one for myself. Another is for my brother. Score!

 

I just ordered from Amazon so I probably just got that last one. Thanks Ax for posting about that book.

 

This might be a good time to bring up the difference between the steel used in cars/trucks manufactured prior to the 70's and the steel that has been in production since that time. Cars today use high-strength steel which has very different properties from the steel used in the pre-70s cars/trucks. The Sargent book is great for the older steel but not so much for the newer HSS. HSS has more "memory" and thus is easier to massage back into shape...paintless dent repair (PDR) works great on HSS but it won't work near as well on older steel.

Not trying to rain on anybody's parade here but thought that the time was right to interject some more info into the discussion.

 

No rain, not even clouds Charlie. Good info, yes the new body metal is quite different from the stuff used in the 50's, including being thinner and having special rust resistant coatings. but I think most of us here are working on the older metal so the info in the book is apropos, just don't practice your techniques on modern panels or cut your patch panels out of metal glamed off the local body shop's scrap pile.

 

Body work is an area I know nothing about. Got my book ordered from newegg and now I need to find some old steel to practice on. Thanks for the recommendation sounds like a great place to start learning.