How To Shrink Warped Sheet Metal

Lots of controversy surrounds heat shrinking yet i ve successfully used this process for 40 years.

How to shrink warped sheet metal.

The condition known as an oil can is often encountered when performing automotive bodywork. Then twist the handle of the tool to twist the metal around one side of the fork. Get used to this idea and your abilities will grow. The bigger the weld the greater the shrinkage.

It can be described much like an oil can lid. This is where the tuck shrinking fork from a few weeks back comes into play. This works the other doesn t. Start by inserting the fork into the edge of the sheet metal at the desired depth of the shrink you want to make.

Get an idea of how much heat it takes to cherry the metal and how hard you need to strike it to smooth it down. Heat to blue only and shrink that much. Then remove the tool and move it over so the fork will roll the metal over the other side of the fork by twisting the metal the other direction. Heating up metal and throwing cold water on it may shrink it a tiny bit but it makes distortion and hard steel.

Design and welding should be addressed to minimize this sort of warping. It not only makes a damaged panel repairable and can save a job from. When the weld shrinks along its length it causes base metal to twist around the weld figure 3. Correctly sizing a weld not only minimizes distortion but also saves weld metal and time.

Do not over heat the steel.