Kevin Warnock

Entrepreneurship, ideas and more

I took the metal shop safety and basic use class at Techshop

with 2 comments

Grizzley brand planishing hammer

Grizzley brand planishing hammer

I completed the metal shop safety and basic use class at TechShop yesterday, February 1, 2011. This was supposed to be a two hour class, but the instructor stayed late on his own time to make it almost a four hour class! The instructor was outstanding, and I recommend this class.

I learned to use the powered slip roll machine, the metal brake, a cutoff saw, the metal shear, the horizontal band saw, the vertical band saw, the air planishing hammer, the English wheel, the metal shrinking and stretching machines and a machine that puts a rib into metal.

I was most impressed with the slip roll machine and the planishing hammer. I now know how I’ll bend the aluminum for the ceiling in my RTS bus conversion. I had planned to not bend the aluminum and just select material that was thin enough to bend during installation. I was going to count on screws to hold the bended shape. But it will be so much better to apply the bend in the slip roll machine. I may even be able to use industrial Velcro to hold up the ceiling panels if they are pre bent. This will mean fewer screws, which would make it easier to get behind the panels if I need to.

Written by Kevin Warnock

February 2nd, 2011 at 10:12 pm

Posted in Bus conversions