I have a basic and maybe stupid question about sheetmetal work. When you watch on TV and see them make things such as gas tanks or fenders by hammering and rolling and so forth, do they get it smooth enough that it can just be painted without any filler. I thought they could but then remember watching an episode of American Chopper where prior to painting they seemed to be putting a layer of something on a gas tank to smooth it. Just curious.
Thanks
Barry
An english wheel does make a very smooth curve, and all you normally need on top of that is a good leveling primer that is sandable. Then paint.
On aluminum you have to do a layer of zinc chromate first.
Depends on how skilled the craftsman is. The best body and fender men can ding out a finder to the point where no body filler is needed, just normal priming and painting. That takes a lot of time, though and not many folks are going to pay for that, thus the popularity of polyester primer-surfacers, etching fillers and the like. I've got a book on sheetmetal work that shows how to make car body parts from scratch, it's amazing what results you can get with just simple tools and a lot of skill(and time).
Stan
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