DENT HAMMERS

A good set of dent hammers is basic to both elementary as well as advanced, dent work. Select a set of hammers that offer a variety of faces and sizes to accommodate all your dent work requirements. The hammers must be properly hardened and tempered, and each face should be polished and buffed to a high luster so as to prevent causing any further damage to the surface that you may be working on. It is common practice to apply a protective face of self-adhesive Teflon to those hammers used directly on a lacquered or plated surface.

Another basic element to dent repair is an accurate set of hardened steel dent balls. A complete set will range from approximately 1/4" up to 3" in small graduations; however, many shops will abbreviate the number of dent balls to fit the specific types of jobs they wish to handle. Often, technicians will drill out and tap their dent balls to fit correspondingly threaded dent rods. This technique will help to broaden the number of uses to which you may apply your dent ball set. If, in the course of regular usage, a dent ball is dropped to the floor or damaged in any other way, it is wise to polish and buff out any blemishes prior to its next use. After each use, wipe the balls clean and apply a light lubrication (i.e. petroleum jelly) to inhibit corrosion between uses.

This device is placed between the jaws of the vise and a round mandrel, and will stabilize the steel mandrel while it is in use. It will also help to reduce the extent of scratches and vise jaw marks in the steel mandrel. This is also considered basic in dent removal tools.

Many times, a technician will be required to remove dents in a small crook or valve port where the larger and more cumbersome equipment is useless. A set of knuckle tools will prove to be a worthwhile investment to even the small repair shop. The better knuckle sets are made so that several sizes of small threaded dent balls may be easily screwed on or off as required. To obtain maximum leverage, a knuckle tool may be set in a vise where simple hand pressure is inadequate.

As is with many of the dent removal tools mentioned here, a set of mouthpiece receiver mandrels can be machined on a metal lathe with relative ease. As long as the taper corresponds closely with that of a specific mouthpiece shaft, straightening is an easy task with the aid of a leather mallet. Usually 3 or 4 common sizes are adequate for most shop situations.