All MetalShaping - Hello from Milwaukee (with lots of pictures!)

So here's my Introduction:

My name is Johnny Koller, I'm 24 years old and from just outside of Milwaukee Wisconsin. I've been into hot rods and custom cars since I was a little kid, and have been actively building them since I was 16 years old. I have a few cars: Model A coupe, Model A roadster, 1940 Mercury Convertible, etc...

Here's the deal with me and Metal shaping. Bodywork has always scared the living heck out of me. I learned how to build frames, suspension fabrication, wiring, motor design and assembly, etc.. but I was always terrified with anything relating to sheet metal work. At the same time, I always admired the builders who could create their vision of how a car could be restyled, and do so with a very high level of craftsmanship (metal shaping versus bondo/fiberglass work) About 5 months ago I decided to learn how to do some bodywork on my 1966 Chevy Van (shop parts hauler) and it gave me an even larger level of respect for those who can metal finish their work. Around the same time, late this past summer, I started monkeying around with a stump, and a baseball bat hammer, etc... just to see how the whole process worked. I've kind of just progressed from there.

Throughout all of this I've bought every book I could find relating to bodywork, sheet metal shop drafting, metalshaping, etc... and have just absorbed it like a sponge. Read a little bit, go to the shop and try it out, screw it up, figure out what I did that screwed it up, and fix it, or start over and try to not make the same mistake again.

I'm here to benefit from others knowledge, and hopefully if I've figured out any little tips or tricks along the way, pass them on to someone else. Here's some pictures of some of my projects.

My model A coupe
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...a/cd724965.jpg

My first metal shaping project: stump, body hammers, bead roller and a hand shrinker
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...a/0201c4ef.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...a/5783b0eb.jpg

Shortly after I made that hubcap, I had a friend lose a front wheel on his 1955 buick, and it wrecked his fender pretty bad. He gave it to me and figured it would be a good one to practice on. I learned alot about sheet metal and how it reacts to hammering, shrinking, etc.. with this one. Before and "after" but still not finished.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...a/bacab677.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...a/9c2214c0.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...a/e230f6f9.jpg
After I got "mostly done" with that fender I realized two things... I absolutely love working with sheet metal and doing everything by hand is really hard on your body. I sold some extra hot rod parts laying around, and started keeping an eye out for a GOOD English wheel, planisher, etc... I found a really nice Ratco hammer and a floor model MetalAce wheel, and once word got out I had a wheel, a friend of a friend asked me if I could make some tanks for a 1928 Harley he was restoring. I told him I'd try my best... and it's been the biggest learning experience I've had thus far. I made a lot of pieces that I ended up throwing away, but here's what I came up with. I deemed it my "practice tank". Now I understand better how to split the tank into pieces, how to shape them, and how to get my seams as they should be, so I'm going to make the pair of them over again and try to make it perfect. I didn't completely finish what I started with, but you can see where I was headed. it's all 18ga cold rolled.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...a/36bc2c60.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...a/de9bf0c2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...a/38287119.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...a/70abae7c.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...a/7fd26a43.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...a/be951e1a.jpg
I also screwed around, just learning to use the wheel, and made a fender skirt for my '40 mercury.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...a/2d8b4f20.jpg
A really wanted to try playing with copper, so I made this for my mom for Christmas, out of 16 gauge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...a/46fc68f8.jpg

Here's a picture of my shop space. I just picked up a p9sl Pullmax from a fellow member of the board here, and I've been playing around with making dies, shrinking with it, etc... It's a really amazing machine. I have a p1 pullmax that I'm putting together right now as well.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...a/a413d5b3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...a/b89044ee.jpg

Hopefully this isn't too long, but thats me and my interest in metal shaping in a (big) nutshell.