Dent puller for sheet metal thicker than car panels?

[ELL]

So I buy and restore bandsaws. I have a startrite with a dent in the body. It's mild steel about 2mm thick. Sturdy stuff. So I think a normal car dent puller wouldn't work. Are there more heavy duty dent pullers that would work on this thickness of metal?
I'd rather not have to cut into the dent, hammer the dent etc. In a perfect world a dent puller would be the least destructive I think. Thanks.

 

[hotponyshoes]

Stud welder?

 

[dave h 2]

hydraulic press

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Can you get a hydraulic ram to the rear of the dent ? If so a Portapower type car bodywork tool might work

 

[ELL]

hydraulic press

The body is a box shape and attached to other parts of the machine. I'd rather just pull it somehow. Thanks.

 

[ELL]

Stud welder?

Thanks. I just googled. Looks interesting.

 

[arther dailey]

if its that stiff I would be inclined to drill a hole in middle , use slitting disc to cut a cross ,then using studding pull out the dent , mig ,grind and tidy.

 

[Agroshield]

Sorry to split hairs, but is it a dent or a crease? If just a dent, perhaps flame straightening would work (but would require a paint job).

This video has been cited in the past and is very good:

There are many on GT showing the same technique for car body thickness stuff. Practice on some thin stuff and do a test on 2mm scrap to see how it goes.

 

[Beanwood]

I'm with @CompoSimmonite - Hydraulic body jack kit - designed to do the job - Brace the reverse of the panel, and use the expanding jaws to ease it back into shape in a nice controlled manner, with no damage to the paint, and well under £100 for a 4ton version pre-owned. e.g. This one picked at random...

 

[arther dailey]

any of the above , if you have gas its first choice after that just depends what kit you already have .

 

[gaz1]

this should do you if you have bits around

 

[Hitch]

I use a home made slide hammer.


Use one to get dents out on 3mm stainless fine.
Just tack/stitch a bit of studding/bar or flat onto the dent where required, depending on shape of the dent And attach slide hammer to that.
Would need a quick sand and paint to finish.

 

[Jack_K]

For strong sections, panel beaters mig weld these on and use them with a slide hammer or frame machine