There's a misconception that you need all sorts of expensive equipment to shape metal.I wrote some articles about that recently, these are some of the pictures..
Specialist tools consisting of a section of tree trunk with a bowl hollowed in the end, and a lump of 3x3 with one end rounded into a ball, and a 1" tube handle.
Clouting the tin (well, 20 gauge steel in this case, but thicker would be better) into the bowl with the BFH stretches the middle of it and causes the edges to ruffle up into tucks. The tucks are shrunk by pressing the tin into the bowl to stop the tucks from flattening out, and then, basically, whacking the "open" end of them flat. Look up "tuck shrinking" on Google, you'll find plenty of how-tos.
The BFH mounted in the vice, where it can act as a stake anvil.
Dressing out the lumps and bumps with a 1 1/2lb ball peen, on the BFH.
Not the best pic, but the left side is as it left the tree trunk, the right side is planished on the BFH with the ball peen.
I had to make several extra tucks on the back corners to get the material to shrink, so I modified a chinese welding clamp by welding some jaws to it made from 1" angle, and made a tool for making the tucks.
These smaller tucks were shrunk using the ball peen on a hard, flat surface. i use an old surface plate, but a car flywheel has potential, and ought to be easier to find.
This is what I was making, it's a more or less accurate replica of a Mustang tank. The reason I made that was two fold, firstly it's a lot harder to copy a shape than to make something up. If you made it up, who else can say whether it's what you were after or not? Secondly, most fuel tanks are designed in a similar way, and that way is the way they were made when they were had beaten. Mustang tanks, were designed to be made from a single pressing, with two of them welded together and the tunnel added. Meaning it doesn't really lend itself to being made by this method.
It's also MIG welded together, which again isn't ideal, but can be done.
While it's going to need filler if it ever gets painted, so does one you'd buy in a shop. The same applies to lining it as well, you can pay nearly £200 for one and it'll quite happily leak.
It probably ought to be said that just carving out some lumps of wood isn't all there is to it, there's a degree of skill involved, you need to practice and get a feel for it.
Specialist tools consisting of a section of tree trunk with a bowl hollowed in the end, and a lump of 3x3 with one end rounded into a ball, and a 1" tube handle.
Clouting the tin (well, 20 gauge steel in this case, but thicker would be better) into the bowl with the BFH stretches the middle of it and causes the edges to ruffle up into tucks. The tucks are shrunk by pressing the tin into the bowl to stop the tucks from flattening out, and then, basically, whacking the "open" end of them flat. Look up "tuck shrinking" on Google, you'll find plenty of how-tos.
The BFH mounted in the vice, where it can act as a stake anvil.
Dressing out the lumps and bumps with a 1 1/2lb ball peen, on the BFH.
Not the best pic, but the left side is as it left the tree trunk, the right side is planished on the BFH with the ball peen.
I had to make several extra tucks on the back corners to get the material to shrink, so I modified a chinese welding clamp by welding some jaws to it made from 1" angle, and made a tool for making the tucks.
These smaller tucks were shrunk using the ball peen on a hard, flat surface. i use an old surface plate, but a car flywheel has potential, and ought to be easier to find.
This is what I was making, it's a more or less accurate replica of a Mustang tank. The reason I made that was two fold, firstly it's a lot harder to copy a shape than to make something up. If you made it up, who else can say whether it's what you were after or not? Secondly, most fuel tanks are designed in a similar way, and that way is the way they were made when they were had beaten. Mustang tanks, were designed to be made from a single pressing, with two of them welded together and the tunnel added. Meaning it doesn't really lend itself to being made by this method.
It's also MIG welded together, which again isn't ideal, but can be done.
While it's going to need filler if it ever gets painted, so does one you'd buy in a shop. The same applies to lining it as well, you can pay nearly £200 for one and it'll quite happily leak.
It probably ought to be said that just carving out some lumps of wood isn't all there is to it, there's a degree of skill involved, you need to practice and get a feel for it.