Body panel repair and fabrication are a primary reason people want to learn to weld sheet metal. Smarter Than the Metal - Contouring and Finishing Sheet Metal Welds is a 17 page booklet that explains how to use a hammer, dolly, torch and file to stretch, shrink and metal finish sheet metal panels and welds. Metal finishing is making a welded or repaired body panel smooth enough to paint without using any filler! The black art of "heat shrinking" is fully explained. There are practical exercises that you can practice on and then grade yourself to see what you have done right or not so right. Finally, the early exercises lead to practicing metal finishing on simulated door skin repairs and patch panels.
Kent Caveny is a mechanical engineer who is currently working on what he calls "very high pressure water hoses". His expertise has taken him all over the world to work with polymer chemist and other specialist to develop flexible pipe that can withstand pressures up to 15,000 psi used to transport oil on and off floating oil rigs. He currently lives in Europe. Along with being a researcher and engineer, Kent is also a certified car nut. He is currently restoring and reassembling the body and building the chassis for a '27 T Roadster and working on airplane restoration. With some thirty years of sheet metal and welding experience behind him, he has written three books to pass on his expertise. Each is a simple but practical educational tool designed to improve the skills of any home or hobby welder.
