Make a torch stand - an old microphone or hat stand is a good start.

Mine is an old office chair base (on wheels) with a bit of tube shoved in it and a curly hook of 1/4 rod for the Henrob to sit into.

I already have the dolly in my off hand, and just stow the lit torch on the stand and pick up the hammer.......I have seen a mates stand that has a hook to hang the hammer on.....but that's just showing off.

PS. I still use the wet rag after hammering, just cause that's the way I was taught.

 

lets hear some more about the shrinking disc,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

It gets smaller and smaller...

no, that's the cut off wheels.



nevermind!

What do you want to know?

 

does it work? how does it work? worth the money? is it better than a torch? I have been around them, seen them used but don't remeber much

 

I have never seen one in person. Everyone says they work in various threads I have read. Are they very expensive and where do you get them?

 

I paid ~35.00 for mine on ebay. It works better than a torch for a lightly stretched panel or one with a lot of small bag o' peanuts dents from sandbag stretch forming or removing the dents in a panel that required pick work or one where it would be difficult to "on dolly" hammer after torch shrinking. In fact it doesn't require any hammer and dolly work at all. It's not as good where you can't get the disk flat enough against the panel such a a recessed panel in the firewall. The disk I have is ~ 10" in diameter Stainless steel with a turned edge. A textured surface on the disk is not necessary. It works quite simply, put it on a (preferably) high RPM 7" angle grinder with a rubber sanding disk backer. Lay the disk as flat as possible against the dented panel with enough pressure to "blue" the high spots then immediately hit them with a wet rag or blast of compressed air. Check the panel with your hand and a swipe with a vixen file to show any more high spots. repeat as necessary until the panel is as smooth and true as you want it. It works surprisingly well and is easier to control than a torch, but won't completely replace torch shrinking.

 

Great thread! Tons of great info.
The shrinking disc sounds like a neat tool. I pulled my front clip back off yesterday (it was only temporarily installed) to spray some paint on the inner fenders and I got a good look at the back sides of my fenders. I've seen worse cases of cellulite but I really can't remember when. I guess its to be expected in a 57 year old gal with fat fenders.
Maybe when I start on the body work I'll give the shrinking disc a go

Bobby

 

I bought my shrink disk from this company: http://www.sunchasertools.com/
The owner is a professional body man. They sell here in CA at various shows or you can order the kit. It is expensive but it works. It supposedly is better than a tourch because it only heats the high points that touch the spinning disk. Also, it only heats to "blue" hot rather than "red" hot which keeps the metal from becoming too hard. The kit comes with a video that shows the process in detail. However, if you can visit one of the large swapmeets and watch this guy in person, you will learn much faster than by merely viewing the video. Good luck, Jag

 

I think I saw the show the guy is talking about heating with a torch and then cooling with a wet rag.I think it was on that new musclecar show on horsepower tv...

 

Just caught that cellulite joke, Bobby, I love it! haha

 

I know....old thread. The sunchaser shrinking disk is sold as a "kit" now and costs $260. Do you happen to remember what the ebay one was called or who sold it? I haven't seen on one there, but I am not great at the searches on there either.

 

try ebay # 4640226231 Buy it now 36.99.

 

Oh ok. If I can get logged in, I will try to order one. Thanks.



Ordered!

 

A site that I have found provides really useful information on all metalworking tools and techniques is the Metal shapers association.
http://metalshapers.org/objectives/

This page has a lot of useful info on the shrinking discs:
http://allshops.org/cgi-bin/community/communityalbums.cgi?action=openalbum&albumid=99801 21727059&ownerid=9990093068868

And here you can even see a video of it in action:
http://metalshapers.org/videos/Kelly_Shrinking_Disk.wmv

But beware this is a large file if you are on a slow link, but the video is about 12 1/2 minutes long and shows the technique used.

Cheers
Lee

 

Wow, we got a couple of night owls here. Ax and Brian_B, Get some sleep!

If anyone else is interested in the shrinking disc, check out http://ghiaspecialties.com/
I emailed back and forth with John Kelly who owns the site and he had his home made discs on sale last month for $30.

I've got tons of small dents in my hood and my bed sides which I'm hoping to straighten out with the disc. Good luck! - Brad