How To Heat Shrink Sheet Metal

The bulge can then be tapped down flat with a hammer and dolly to thicken the metal in that spot.

How to heat shrink sheet metal.

Heating up metal and throwing cold water on it may shrink it a tiny bit but it makes distortion and hard steel. If you need to shrink in the center or where you can t get a shrinking tool in you must heat shrink either with a torch or a shrinking disc. Once red hot quickly work the area with hammer and dolly to gather the metal into the centre of the cherry then deliver a swift blow to the centre of the heat shrink to push the metal back into itself. It certainly does however eventually make the metal brittle and unworkable so make sure to heat and shrink enough the first time if you use a wet rag to cool.

Start by heating a small area around the size of a dollar coin in a tight circular motion working into the centre to give the metal a cherry. Need a fix for oil canning auto body panels. This works the other doesn t. Propane can do the same thing although it is a much more crude method.

Do not over heat the steel. Why not just heat it and gently hammer the swell down. At 550 degrees f you can shrink the aluminum without affecting the temper or hardness. Get used to this idea and your abilities will grow.

Alternatively you can try hammering off dolly to move the metal around a little to where it needs to be. In this very short video i will show you how to repair shrink sheet metal and stiffen body panels the easy wa. A common recommended fix is to use oxy acetylene heat to create a localized hot spot that bulges the metal above the mean surface of the panel. This takes away some of the stretch.