Hammer and Dollie Issues

[hosking32]

I need some help with my hammer and dolly skills. I am working on a 34 Ford front fender. It has everything from some small dents on the top curved part of the fender to a fairly sharp and deep crease down the flat side. I have knocked around dents in the past but the goal was to get the dent in better shape for a thin coat of bondo. Well I am trying to up my skills and achieve this with out the bondo. I recently bought a vixen file and have been using it to show the highs and lows of the area that I am working. Part of my problem is I really don't know when to use the appropriate technique as far as off dolly, on dolly, or when to use a slapper. So rather than approaching the dent with the knowledge of what to do I just start hammering away and trying things to get the job done. This is O.k., but sometimes my golf ball dent ends up being a softball-sized area that still needs some bondo or some shrinking. I am hoping that I get a few responses before I start on the crease on the flat side of the fender. So any advice or references would greatly be appreciated.
Thanks,

[John Kelly]

Here are two articles by Wray that should be of help:

http://www.jag-lovers.org/xk-lovers/library/dent_tools.html

http://www.jag-lovers.org/xk-lovers/library/removing_dents.html

And an article on welding with a little bit about metal-finishing as well:

http://www.type2.com/library/body/wlsh.htm

One thing that helped me is not worrying about over-doing the hammer and dolly work. It takes a lot of effort to go too far.

John www.ghiaspecialties.com

[rookie]

Hi Jason, for the most part you want to avoid On dolly hammering as this will stretch the metal, some spots you may need too, let your vixen file show you. If you have both high and low spots after your roughing in, hold your dolly on the back side and use your slapper to work the highs down. Many light blows will actually move the metal where you want it better than heavier blows. Other's columns explain this better that I can, but this is the basics.

All the best, Phil Gilmore(rookie)

[Bill Firth]

John thanks for posting the links to the great articles you and Wray wrote :D . I was about to ask how to control the warping
and shrinking when o/a welding.You answerd a lot of questions

Thanks Bill

[hosking32]

Hello all,
Thanks John and Phil this is very helpful. I am trying to avoid hammer on dolly as much as possible but what are you supposed to do in an area where there is a lot of small dents (in a group the size of a soft ball). I used my slapper and dolly to smooth this area and stretched the metal really bad only creating more work for myself. Should I have used a piece of wood to back it up. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for your time,

[John Kelly]

In my opinion you should not worry about too much on dolly work. I really started to learn when I took this approach. Learning comes slowly if you are too cautious. I like to think of the work as a bit like balancing on a tight rope. You don't stand perfectly still, you lean back and forth a little...the same with stretching and shrinking...if you over-stretch you can shrink and start again....back and forth until you get the perfect balance. There is a how-to article on this web site where Paul explains how to make your own shrinking disc. This is the tool you need to make the bulge go away. If you don't want to make one, I make them for sale: ghiafab@msn.com

John www.ghiaspecialties.com

[hosking32]

Thanks John this is good stuff. There is a lot of info in this site some times you just need to throw out a post to get some guidence from others to help you locate it. Thanks again and if there is anything else you or others can think that would be of help keep it coming.
Regards,