Automotive Sheet Metal Forming & Fabrication provides the know-how for people who are working, or want to work, along the nearly endless learning curve of this craft. It instructs in most of the common processes and operations in sheet metal fabrication work. These are the basic ones that you can accomplish with some work, and with access to fairly modest tools and equipment. It focuses on how to perform most of the basic operations and tasks used in metal forming and fabrication. Of course, some of the more exotic tools, equipment, and techniques in this field also get attention in this book, but the emphasis is largely on the reliable basics of this work. This volume shows novice metal workers how to apply force and use fine judgment, and through close observation, creativity, ingenuity, and restraint, create almost any metal part.

 

Wire welders, metal shears and brakes, planishing hammers, and shrinker/stretchers are readily available and affordable, and therefore, metal forming is no longer the exclusive art of professional craftsmen. In turn, simple to more complex fabrication and metal forming tasks are within the reach of adept enthusiasts, and this book comprehensively explains how to accomplish these fun and satisfying tasks. Enthusiasts are shown how to work steel, aluminum, and some other metals, and how to select a metal for a particular part fabrication. This book also discusses how to determine elastic limits as well as how to shrink and expand metal, heating and annealing, and may other metal working techniques.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• A Wide Range of Possible Projects 
• Limits of Material, Skills and Imagination 
• Subtle Factors to Consider

• Characteristics of Sheet Metal
• Alloys: Steel and Aluminum 
• Work Hardening and Strengthening 
• Workability 
• Heating and Annealing 
• Selecting Metals and Their Alloys
• Acquiring Metal Stock

• Basic Theories of Metal Forming 
• Bilateralism and Other Tricks
• The Importance of Good Foundations

• Choosing Constructions, Materials and Tools
• Modeling, Patterning and Templating
• Measuring, Drawing and Laying Out Work
• Structural vs. Nonstructural Fabrications 

• Cutting 
• Simple Bending 
• Flanging
• Creating the Correct Crown 
• Wheeling 
• Power Hammer Forming
• Avoiding Unnecessary Damage

• Filing
• Sanding
• Edge Deburring 
• Drilling, Piercing and Punching 
• Edge Treatments and Bead Rolling 
• Louvers and Exotic Trim Formations
• Using Tension

• Checking Final Dimensions, Contours and Attachments
• Weld Finishing 
• Metal Finishing 
• Checking Metal Integrity 

• Four Types of Filler
• Proper Filler Application 
• Proper Shaping and Smoothing Techniques 
• Proper Surface Preparation

• Hand and Vise Tools 
• Specialty Tools 
• Clamping and Fixturing Tools 
• Making Special-Purpose Hand Tools
• Small Equipment 
• Multi-Purpose Devices
• Power and Hand Tools
• Blacksmith Tools

• Using an English Wheel
• Effective versus Harmful Techniques 

• Power Hammers 
• Big Machine Basics 
• Special Power Hammer Tooling 

• Non-Welding Jointure Techniques 
• Welding 
• Tips for Fabrication Welds 

• Meet the Little Black Box
• The Basic Plan 
• Preliminaries
• Forming the Top Piece 
• Making the Skirt
• Assembling the Two Pieces 

• Planning and Patterning 
• Fabricating the Side Section
• Fabricating the Top Section 
• Joining the Two Pieces 
• Wire Edging the Fender Panel
• Making Support and Base Brackets