I can't say enough about this little forming buck that an an English bodyman designed for himself to make his work easier. He was kind enough to share it on a website and a few of us on the GG copied the design. Since working on the larger body panels on my E-Type I have come to rely on this little gem more and more. Every now and then I just step back and realize that this thing has saved me hours of time and frustration when the need arises to hold a large panel.
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/misc/Forming_Buck/PICT0424Medium.jpg)
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/misc/Forming_Buck/PICT0425Medium.jpg)
I built this thing very quickly (in hours) to help out a friend that was doing a lot of small bends and patches for his car. So the angle iron wasn't cleaned and prepped to any great degree, consequently it was welded up with an AC stick welder.
I built it heavy enough to act as a stable platform so that I can hang large panels from it --
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/misc/Forming_Buck/PICT0426Medium.jpg)
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/misc/Forming_Buck/PICT0427Medium.jpg)
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/misc/Forming_Buck/PICT0428Medium.jpg)
If you do a lot of large body work, this is a tool you should build -- I'm quickly putting this on my "best homemade tool" list.
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/misc/Forming_Buck/PICT0429Medium.jpg)
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/misc/Forming_Buck/PICT0430Medium.jpg)
It can be easily repositioned for better working angles.
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/misc/Forming_Buck/PICT0431Medium.jpg)
If you're interested in a great (long) thread on metal working by the originator of this tool you can look here. Be warned though that it's a long thread and it will take some time to load all the pics in your browser. Like I said, this is worth a look because the man is truly a professional
http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=usetharch&action=print&thread=70135 (http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=usetharch&action=print&thread=70135)
Here's how to build it --
I made one of these bucks yesterday. I was helping a friend bend up some patches for his MG and after the second trip back to my house to use the sheetmetal brake, I suggested we build one of these things and take it with us. It took three hours to build, and we welded it up with my old AC stick welder using 6011 because the angle iron was pretty dirty. Thanks to Heiny I now had some good 2" angle to make this buck.
I overbuilt this thing so that it could take the stress of working with 16ga, so all the joints are welded and braced; including two cross braces for the feet. I just used junk that was in the shop -- 3/4" threaded rod, and nuts -- everything was at hand. We finished up my friend's project this morning and I brought the raw steel buck over to my place to give it some paint.
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/PICT0298Medium.jpg)
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/PICT0299Medium.jpg)
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/PICT0300Medium.jpg)
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/PICT0301Medium.jpg)
The top angle iron on the clamping side sits just a bit lover than the other side. Once I sit the clamping angle iron on top of that lower angle iron, it makes a flush top for shaping metal.
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/PICT0302Medium.jpg)
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/PICT0303Medium.jpg)
Here you can see how the clamping angle sits flush because the angle iron brace underneath it is cut shorter in height.
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/PICT0304Medium.jpg)
Once the clamping surfaces were flush, they were trued up with a belt sander to make then smooth and crisp.
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/PICT0305Medium-1.jpg)
All painted up and ready for some more work. My buddy took it already back to his garage, and the paint wasn't even dry === LOL
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/PICT0306Medium-1.jpg)