Tucking Tools and hand shrinking explained

Okay I understand now..I forgot about the round-faced hammer.
Thanks!

[custommachines]

alright, lets respond to this ages old thread

thing is, ive been reading up here on and off now since '06 but never really got to it to actually post sth.

but now.. i have a problem involving tuck shrinking. never done this before so NOOB in full affect.

i have to make a fender inside a fender (almost sounds as good as pimp my ride )

the fender:



i read somehwere to overdimension your plate, so i did. and to prebend it.



i made a tucking fork real quick from pictures i had in my head for years.. the gap between the forks is a little big but should work right?!
and i started to bend some. (hope i'm doing it right)



and i started watching the vids of Captain kirk on youtube. and also ran into this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJFNF...eature=related

now the interesting part is he does it the other way then the picture that is seen in this thread with the sequence of hammering.

excuse me? what am i missing.

[kit]

Originally Posted by custommachines

.excuse me? what am i missing.

Nothing, there is no one way, it's whatever works for you.
Personally, from where you are now I would partialy reinsert your fork and bring each tuck up more towards a central point at it's outboard end, not a complete point,then tap over the end to lock the tuck in the sheet, clamping either side of the tuck onto an imovable object with a couple of wrenches really speeds the process up by stopping the tuck flatening back into the sheet, I use various curved lengths of steel to match the profile of the sheet, then I would hammer from the outside inwards.

[custommachines]

thanks! i will try this method.
with various curved lengths you mean the surface underneath the piece? or the curve of the hammerhead?

[kit]

Just curved to come close to the shape already in the sheet, yes the surface under the sheet, to minimise the distortion that clamping to a flat would cause, it only needs to be the width of just over one tuck.
With the tucks as close together as you have you might need to use a spacer on the top side so the clamp clears the tuck, a piece of rod or radiused 6mm strip.

[AndersK]

Jan, do yourself a favour and make a stump. (assuming you have read about stump shrinking if you have lurked since -06 )

For that kind of shrinking its far more easier to hammer out the tucks on the stump when one is new to it.

Your fork looks fine and so does the tucks. Dont make them too steep since they can fold over themself. If that happens you'll be back to pie-cutting and welding....

I made my fork almost the samre but the handle is 90 degrees turned. and slightly curved. Fits better in the hand that way (my opinion, not necessarily truth to everyone)

/Anders

[kit]

Here is a usefull tool for getting the outer end of the tuck to the shape you want it, it's made from a wheel wrench which is quite hard steel, slit is made with a grinder.



An easy way of making the curved strip to clamp under the tuck is to cut a section from tube, then open it to the radius of your work piece by crushing it in a vise. Make sure you use soft jaws on the vise or grind off any jaw prints so you dont transfer those to the work.

[shortbus]

Wouldn't it also be better to do fewer tucks at a time? With the tucks so close together while closing one it tends to open the ones on either side. Just the way I do it, not sure how others approach it.

cary

[jlrussell4]

Hi Cary,

I was always told that putting in a row of tucks would help lock the tucks in the middle of the row of tucks. It does seem to help a bit.