Tools - Gene Winfield Style

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BJinaTJ

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
132
Location
Elwood, Indiana
I put this on the other site, but wanted to make sure I shared it with you guys too..

Myself and a couple of other guys were at the Chicago Autorama helping Gene Winfield chop a 41 Ford Coupe top this weekend. While Gene and I was talking about a particular shape he drew a diagram of random tools in his shop. I am uploading it for the others guys in the chop as I said I would. Below is a cropped version of the picture as well as a link to the larger copy.

The top left picture is multiple pieces of different sized steel tubing that have been welded together with a 3/32 gap so you can put sheet metal in the gap and bend it over the multiple radius.

The picture on the right is a length of rail road tie that has been shaped to create a nice anvil for shaping metal. Gene mentions that this takes quite some time to create, but is well worth the time spent.

The picture on the bottom is a table that Gene has in his shop. The table top has a different radius on each corner, a smaller ledge underneath made from angle iron with expanded metal for a bottom and small lengths of tubing welded around it to hold hammer handles. The table has a 2" top and 3 wheels for self leveling. Most of these tools can be seen in his metalshaping DVD's.

I hope you enjoy..


http://www.oldtinrods.com/images/gene_winfield-tools_LG.jpg

gene_winfield-tools_SM.jpg
 
Very cool thanks for posting. It's even cooler that you know/work with gene. It must be pretty awesome to work with someone with so much know how.

-Chris
 
The picture on the right is a length of rail road tie that has been shaped to create a nice anvil for shaping metal. Gene mentions that this takes quite some time to create, but is well worth the time spent.

Thanks for sharing. [cl



I got this from the family farm remnants last summer...

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... not so perfectly shaped but I can appreciate the time and effort as Gene said!

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What is the item just above his signature? I have been thinking of a similar device with the main tube made from a steel oxygen bottle.
 
i have worked with him in the past at different shows chopping cars. he does things in a very old school crude manner. he is a legend, dont get me wrong not trying to take anything from him. but on the last car i worked with him on i spent a ton of time getting the fitment right on all the post and he came behind me and torch welded them and beat them in with a hammer over 3/8 of an inch and said filler will cover all that. and when he was doing the sail panels he was hammer welding them in and over worked the roof, got hard, welds and sheet metal cracked and the roof was sucked way down. after that happened he left to go back from California and all day sunday i was there cutting all his work back out to make it nicer since another shop was going to finish the car after the show, and i had to explain why the car turned out bad to the guy footing the bill.

things are just different now, back then there were no real rules and techniques in custom sheet metal work. the bar has just been raised on quality of metal work over the years and Gene is still Gene.

the also asked me if i could come in and do some more chops with him at the world of wheels events again this year and i told them absolutely not. other people may have had better experiences but all of mine were just frustrating overall
 
Thats interesting to hear. Ive never met the guy let alone work with him so i cant speak to that. I do follow your work on here cornfield and im always amazed at how well your stuff comes out. Its easy to tell you take a lot of pride in what you do and are damn good at it.

Many props to you,

-Chris
 
Being an old guy I always believed the term "lead sled" referred to the fact that many of the early customizers used copious amounts of lead to cover rough metal work. Bondo is just non-metallic lead, and easier to sculpt. Very few guys back in the day had the tools or expertise to do proper metal finishing. Yes, there were some but I believe there are more young guys developing those skills now than there were back then.
 
Being an old guy I always believed the term "lead sled" referred to the fact that many of the early customizers used copious amounts of lead to cover rough metal work. Bondo is just non-metallic lead, and easier to sculpt. Very few guys back in the day had the tools or expertise to do proper metal finishing. Yes, there were some but I believe there are more young guys developing those skills now than there were back then.

Yup, and if you ever find those old show cars decomposing, the work underneath is often hideous.

Also, pretty sure he probably made the little anvil from railroad track, not tie (since that is wood)

Anyway, thanks for the cool tips on home made tools, we all love and cherish some of those of our own and appreciate the genius.
 

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