I pulled a flexible shape pattern off the nose of one of my ASA's. I shaped the panels to match the FSP. To my surprise, I duplicated a dent that was in the front roll pan where I didn't see it. Works for me.
I decided to show the technique to a friend of mine as he was working on his Dual Ghia. I pulled a FSP off of an area on the rear fender over the top and down the side. After all of the effort, I said "hey Bill check this out" and threw it on the floor. It was dead flat. The panel could have been formed over my knee. A bit of a let down but it gave me the information that told me where to shape, Nowhere. Just put it into arrangement over my knee.
The best defense (really doesn't need a defense, it just works) was the events leading up to FormFest I in Hunstville, AL. FSP's were sent to metalshapers all over the planet. What they received was a pattern for a certain panel of a Sports Car prototype. The panels were made in their own shops to fit the FSP and at the appropriate time, they gathered at George King's shop in Huntsville with their shaped panel.
The panels were put into arrangement to fit the buck and welded together. BINGO! A complete body in a week or less. That was amazing! That event was a gamechanger for metalshaping. From that came FormFest II, MetalShapers Association, MetalMeet, AllMetalShaping and many metalshapers gatherings all over the planet. So yes, the lowly flexible shape pattern has a legacy..
As a postscript to this, I neglected to mention all of the friends that I have made over the years as a result of these interactions. I can put faces and voices and laughter to many of the characters on this site and others. Yes. there are "Characters". FUN, FUN, FUN! Good times and memories that will last a lifetime.
__________________
Carey Culpepper
TuckPuck® Metal Shaping Tools
www.tuckpuck.com
Last edited by mr.c; 08-15-2019 at 01:49 PM.
|