How To Shrink Sheet Metal With Hammer And Dolly

I have identified 14 distinct ways to shrink.

How to shrink sheet metal with hammer and dolly.

Use a permanent marker to mark the area you need to shrink this is critical as once you get going you can easily lose the spot. The metal worker finds the dent in the metal then places the dolly on the back side of the damaged area. There are many ways to shrink. You have to adjust your mind to the concept that when you hammer on sheet metal with a steel hammer onto a steel dolly or anvil that you will expand or increase the surface area by thinning the metal.

Then twist the handle of the tool to twist the metal around one side of the fork. Start by inserting the fork into the edge of the sheet metal at the desired depth of the shrink you want to make. The idea was that if the hammered metal went up it was being stretched and if it went down it had shrunk. Using a rosebud torch tip heat the center of the metal to be shrunk.

You are looking for a nipple to form in the center. Put your dolly behind the metal use your shrinking hammer and smack the metal using the dolly to absorb the impact and accept the rebound. This is where the tuck shrinking fork from a few weeks back comes into play. Very important do not let the dolly rebound onto the metal.

Using hand tools and machines. First use your shrinking hammer and see what you can do to tighten up the metal with that. This will tighten up that specific spot. The test was to hammer on dolly on one spot and measure what happened.