Sheet metal shrinking?
Elder User
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 999
Likes: 1
From: Willamette Valley Oregon
<cr>
Hey, I use to straighten 36" X 10" I beams that were 40' long by doing nothing except applying heat with a rosebud and cooling them with a wet rag. You can do the same on sheetmetal.
Like uk1050 said, small areas at a time. It might take several small heats but the metal will shrink. Once it's shrunk down, work the area to shape with a hammer and dolly.
You can cause a little extra shrinkage by applying hammer and dolly work while the metal is a dull red. Just tap the outside area towards the center of the dull red. That will push a little extra metal into the cooling metal.
Hey, I use to straighten 36" X 10" I beams that were 40' long by doing nothing except applying heat with a rosebud and cooling them with a wet rag. You can do the same on sheetmetal.
Like uk1050 said, small areas at a time. It might take several small heats but the metal will shrink. Once it's shrunk down, work the area to shape with a hammer and dolly.
You can cause a little extra shrinkage by applying hammer and dolly work while the metal is a dull red. Just tap the outside area towards the center of the dull red. That will push a little extra metal into the cooling metal.
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 432
Likes: 1
From: West London, England
The way I was shown is to heat a small area abut 3/8" dia till it is red, it will swell into a bump, place a dolly behind the bump, tap it down with a wooden mallet then quench with a wet rag.
This is easiest to do with two people, one heating, the other using the mallet and dolly.
Several shrink spots may be required
Looks like Aekisu was posting at the same time as me and just beat me to it
This is easiest to do with two people, one heating, the other using the mallet and dolly.
Several shrink spots may be required
Looks like Aekisu was posting at the same time as me and just beat me to it
Last edited by Steve_B; Oct 30, 2004 at 01:34 PM.
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Elder User
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 987
Likes: 2
From: East Bend, Carolina, U.S
Thanks guys. I'll have to try it on some scrap metal to get the technique figured out though. I know I'll make a big mess of some metal before I figure out the right way. This isn't for some project that I am rushing to complete. It is just that I have tried to shrink metal and have failed terribly at it and want to know how to do it correctly.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 2,007
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From: Oregon
It's not that hard to learn. Just take your torch and move it in a small circle, ( I was taught the size of a dime), until the inside of that circle turns red. It will shrink the metal. It doesn't shrink it a whole bunch, that's why you have to do it in multiple places sometimes.
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Senior User
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 432
Likes: 1
From: West London, England
While on the subject of metal shrinking has anyone seen or used the shrinking discs being used.
As I understand they are a metal disc that mounts in a grinder and heats the metal using friction
As I understand they are a metal disc that mounts in a grinder and heats the metal using friction
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Joined: Nov 2000
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From: Pflugerville, tx
and do you have to do this from the high side, or can it be low side too?
the hood for my 55 F100 was heat expanded by the sandblaster, towards the inside..of course, I can work on it ON the truck a lot easier than taking it off onto some stand I will have to build..
Is it even reasonable to be able to recover this hood? one concave section is like 1x2 feet, the other is slightly larger on the other side of the centerline ridge..
Sam
the hood for my 55 F100 was heat expanded by the sandblaster, towards the inside..of course, I can work on it ON the truck a lot easier than taking it off onto some stand I will have to build..
Is it even reasonable to be able to recover this hood? one concave section is like 1x2 feet, the other is slightly larger on the other side of the centerline ridge..
Sam
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