Quote:
Originally Posted by plainred65
Astronaut, could you give a quick explanation of how you heat shrink metal? Is it a hard technique to learn? Seems like it would handy as around a dent you always have stretched metal. Following this (and all your threads) closely!
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It's not hard if you learn to do it the right way- I wasn't taught the right way, so I was frustrated with it at first. I tried shrinking with a torch and wet rag like some people tell you to do, but they leave out the step of using the hammer and dolly to actually flatten and pull the metal inward while the metal is still red hot. That works but has very little shrinking action, and it's easy to warp the metal more than you're actually helping. Or atleast that was my experience.
The way I now do it is: Quickly (or else you'll warp a bigger spot from the panel getting too hot) get a spot about the size of a quarter red hot, support the back with a dolly, and hammer around the red spot to draw down the high spot, then you quench the spot with a wet rag. Don't hit any of the red hot area with the hammer, or you'll just add to the amount of stretch. Repeat until the area is flat and isn't popping in and out. If you over shrink you can use the "hammer on dolly" method to stretch the metal. Hitting the hammer directly on the dolly squeezes the metal outwards to stretch it.