Pete 367 in brass

[Brian in PA]

I see! You made dimples for rivets. Good idea!

Brian

[Straywolf]

Wow this is the first time for me to see something built out of brass from the start. I think i may be learning something new by watching this build. Great work i can't wait to see more


Mike

[Timmy]

I havet had much chance to work on the truck lately, but I did start the roof. Probably the most complex piece, but I have confidence, let's see how it turns out.

The foam form

It's not perfect, but it's just the form for the brass

And I always make a card stock form

It makes it far easier to cut and form the brass with a general idea of where to cut and bend the brass
I should have some new picks later today, here's hoping anyway
Tim

[DuelTruckDriver]

Wow Timmy, I can tell that you have spent a ton of time into this project. As someone else stated you def. have ballz to do a project of this complexity. I half to agree w/ you about the roof. It is probally the hardest panel to form w/ its dome shaping, very challenging. Keep it up man looks really great

>Marty<

[Roadmasters]

Im always amazed by what some people can achieve with brass. Looks great, cant wait for more

[Timmy]

So, I know it's been awhile since I've posted, but work commitments take priority. I will post up some new pics of the roof soon, I've been slowly working on it. On another note, does anyone have a set of drive axles they want to sell, mine seem to have gone missing from my storage unit along with a bunch of other things(long story) any help would be appreciated

[Timmy]

So it's been awhile since I've updated my build progress, so I'm going to do so now. Unfortunately my first roof met a crushing end at the feet of one of the kids. So while I'm waiting to get some more brass sheet I've been working on my frame and dump box.

I bent up some frame rails and trued them up, funny how I took a picture of them sitting on the roof of a full size Pete roof

I then moved on to the box while I waited for some connector pieces for the frame

Here I've closed in the front of the box. I have more pictures I've just posted a couple to show everyone, if you want to see more just ask, I'll post them.

And this shot I took to just get an idea of how the overall truck would look
I hope you guys enjoy, and when I get some more brass, I'll continue on the cab and hood. I'm open to any suggestions as well

[CustomClod]

This is awesome! Ill be keeping an eye on it. You do very nice work!
Scott

[crawler07]

Great build Sir! I am also building a couple of brass trucks and when it came time to build the hood and roof I decided to build them from copper instead of brass. The main reason is due to how malleable it is over the brass It will form the corner with the use of a little heat. You can just build a wooden buck instead of foam so you can hammer and heat it over the wood..just another way to build...

[Timmy]

Crawler07, thank you. I've used woodenbucks many times in my day to day job as an automotive restorer. I may still go that route if I can find a small piece of hardwood. I shied away from copper only for the reasoning of possably polishing the brass as opposed to painting, but copper could be a neat contrast, I may just do that now

[crawler07]

Timmy, what type of welder are you using on the bed?

[Timmy]

I'm using a 115 volt mig with a 25/75 mix of argon to Co2

[Timmy]

So I've decided since I have to build he roof again anyway, I might as well take crawler07's advise, and build a wooden buck. The buck I've made is a simple one, and I built it out of 1/2 inch balsa. I don't intend to hammer against the form, just use it as my guide. I've annealed my brass before starting so that I don't have to heat against the wood either, not a good idea with balsa, my wife would kill me if I set fire too it. Here's some shots of the basic wood form

It's a nice dock isn't it

Cut to general shape

Now this picture shows the height of the buck, the buck it self is 1.3cm tall (when I scale I use centimeters and millimeters, one cause I'm Canadian, and two it's easier then figuring out thousandths) this happens to be the exact scale height of the roof after it slips onto the cab, so as I shape the buck, I will have to keep this in mind

I'll post more pics as I go

[Timmy]

I finished the final shaping and started building my new roof panel last night

It looks tall, but the dimensions are correct, and the roof will slide down slightly from here

The shape looks very good in the side profile

This is the beginning of the new skin
I may build the roof in 4 pieces just to ease the metal forming, it will cause more work finishing the solder joints and smoothing it, but sometimes the longer route is the easiest. And if all else fails, I can smooth the buck even farther and stain it, a nice wooden roof for this Pete lol
Hope you enjoy

[civic83]

this may be a stupid question, but how do you guys get such nice cuts in the brass sheet? I find if I use snips the edges arent very nice no matter how i cut it, you can see "pinching" and tooth marks from the jaws. is there different shears available that are better? the only sheet metal experience i have is from high school shop and we used a foot operated shear that made nice cuts but i dont have the room or budget for such a machine.

[Timmy]

There's no such thing as a stupid question! I've posted a pic of the cutters I use

I'm using .010 brass so any good quality scissors from a sewing store are the best choice. I also use a pair of my old snips from work, they work good, but yes they do leave a knurled edge which you can fix with a fine file. The pair in the picture are snap-on, but a quality pair of Wiss snips from a hardware store work aswell. I also use flush cutters. You can get them from your Lhs. I use these in very tight corners, and you need to dolly the brass smooth after which can cause or will cause some stretching in your piece. Another thing to consider, especially if your cutting long pieces is that both the scissors and the snips will curl the brass as you cut. Scissors aren't as bad as snips, but it will happen. So to solve this I use my little brake. Insert your piece, line it up as if you were going to bend it, then simply score the brass with a hobby knife or utility knife, bend it, fold it back and it will brake with a nice clean edge.
I hope this helps, if there's anything else feel free to ask

[Timmy]

Here's a quick update on where I am with my roof forming


Much more work to be done, but it's taking shape

[civic83]

Thanks for the info, I hadn't considered using the small brake I have to do cuts, I'll have to try it! Your build looks great by the way!

[Timmy]

Thank you for the compliment! Knowledge is only good if you are able to share it! Il hopefully have some more pics up today of the finished roof assembly, fingers crossed.

[Timmy]

Here's the update on the roof. It took approximately 6 pieces, but it looks pretty good

In this pic, I've just finished soldering hence the clips

And here it is beside the buck

It's going to take much time to file and smooth, but I'm hopeful the end result will be worth it