All MetalShaping - Greetings from Finland!

Hi everyone,

my name is Valtteri and I'm 38 years old, have a one-year old son and live in Finland.

I've been working on cars for the past 15 years as a hobby, but haven't really seriously attempted metal shaping at any point.

I have a 1940 Willys coupe that has had extensive metal shaping done professionally. The body still has a few things that I want to attend to. This is the main reason for joining this forum: I want to tackle the remaining things myself and I think this place will be a great resource for learning.

A bit more on my metal shaping background and equipment:
-Have read a few books
-Have watched a few DVDs
-Just bought my first set of hammers and dollies
At our shop we have the following:
-English wheel
-Planishing hammer
-Shrinker/stretcher
-Bead roller, non-variable speed
-Shrinking stump, some various dollies

All in all, I basically have all the equipment I will ever need.

Here is my challenge:
I have a one-year old son who is a priority for me. Add in work and what's left for working on cars is basically one night a week, maybe 4-6 hours.

I have also quickly realized that planning how to make a certain piece is by far the hardest thing for me. Keeping in mind that I actually have a very limited amount of shop time a week, I think this is where the forum - and all of you - could really help out. If I am able to plan out the process of making the parts with your help on the forum, I will be able to make the most of my limited time actually doing the work.

In other words, I will be posting about parts I'm wanting to make and asking lots of questions!

Valtteri
Helsinki
Finland