Question for Peter : what tools + machines did you 1st use in Australia ?

[abarthdave]

Hi Peter ,

After you moved to Australia , what tools / machines were you using ?

Were you just working at a shop that did crash repair ?

And if you had the money at the time , what machines would you have bought to make panels quicker and less stress on your body ?

Would you have liked to have any of the Italian machines you used in your training ?

Thanks for your thoughts.....

[Chris_Hamilton]

When I met Peter and took a class with him back in 2016, he told me that for the longest time he only had the basic tools in his Shop. I think he mentions it in one of the videos as well. Wheel, bead roller, brake. I think he had only the minimal amount of equipment for many years. He has said this as has David Gardiner that you need to be able to form by hand first before you start adding machines. Adding machines to the process when you are trying to learn the principles makes understanding the how and why more difficult. At least that is what I remember him saying.

[Peter Tommasini]

Hi Peter ,

After you moved to Australia , what tools / machines were you using ?

Were you just working at a shop that did crash repair ?

And if you had the money at the time , what machines would you have bought to make panels quicker and less stress on your body ?

Would you have liked to have any of the Italian machines you used in your training ?

Thanks for your thoughts.....

Dave...
When first landed in Australia ,I worked in a normal panel shop for a wile owned by Italians, once i started to speak and understand a little English I moved on ,did my apprenticeship in panel beating for 5 Years. Then ... I started looking for coach building shops once found one I worked there for about 8 Years, learned a few skills and ask a lot of questions . After a few Years working here and there I learned a few more things, and on free days a put these new learned theories and skills to practice. A few Years later I started my own shop ,but with very little money I started to buy equipment a little at the time. .. the first thing that I brought was a English wheel. if I had the money then ? The first thing I would have brought would have been a proper planishing hammer with the blocking hammer attachment, this way I would have save my elbows which are now days worn out , As far as all the other tools that I have now , those days I did 90% of all work by hand. I personally strongly believe that using hand tools for most of my work back then, allowed me to understand how metal reacts and moves, which now days..... (using quite a few machines) makes my job quicker . I guess what I am trying to say is that one must have hand skills before using any machines tools, simply because a machine can only do what the operator understands,... the level of his skills , and is capable off .

[abarthdave]

Thanks Peter , so you moved to Australia without speaking English ? , that must have been eye opening !

and you wrote " The first thing I would have brought would have been a proper planishing hammer with the blocking hammer attachment"
can you post some information on the blocking hammer attachment ?

For me this is just a hobby , I would like to work on some of my old cars , they are not as bad as Niel started with , but to most people they look like scrap metal !
I did some metalshaping years ago , then life got in the way ! plus it was easier to do mechanical work

Thank You Peter for being here and answering our "stupid" questions , we will probably never get the 1000s of hours of experience you have ,

[Peter Tommasini]

Thanks Peter , so you moved to Australia without speaking English ? , that must have been eye opening !

and you wrote " The first thing I would have brought would have been a proper planishing hammer with the blocking hammer attachment"
can you post some information on the blocking hammer attachment ?

For me this is just a hobby , I would like to work on some of my old cars , they are not as bad as Niel started with , but to most people they look like scrap metal !
I did some metalshaping years ago , then life got in the way ! plus it was easier to do mechanical work

Thank You Peter for being here and answering our "stupid" questions , we will probably never get the 1000s of hours of experience you have ,

Dave here are some picture of the hammer attachments on the English wheel frame

[abarthdave]

Thanks for the photos of the air hammer attachment to your wheeling machine ,

how much "power" does the air hammer have ?
I am not sure how you measure the power , but there must be some way

and can it be adjusted for power and speed ?

Grazie

[neilb]

that air hammer attachment is great and well worth buying, i have tried his big air hammer on his big cast wheel frame and that is unbelievable

[Peter Tommasini]

Thanks for the photos of the air hammer attachment to your wheeling machine ,

how much "power" does the air hammer have ?
I am not sure how you measure the power , but there must be some way

and can it be adjusted for power and speed ?

Grazie

I can not measure the power but I can tell you this I can shape up to 2 mm steel and it's all adjustable from 25 PSI up to 90 PSI , also with the dies that I design i can do these tasks..............

planishing , blocking, shape (on leather or wood ), tuck shrinking ,stretching U shape panels from 15 mm to 60 mm square ( the like of rubbers channels and booth or bonnet frames, ) linear stretching, repair small areas , crush welds. etc
Peter T.