Getting To Grips With Essential Car Maintenance
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Getting To Grips With Essential Car Maintenance

When I got my first car twenty years ago, I was clueless when it came to maintaining it and keeping it in a roadworthy condition. As a result, I had to pay for costly repairs that could have been avoided if the car had been looked after better. I learned my lesson and started reading everything I could about basic car maintenance. I started this blog to share what I've learned in the hopes it will save other new drivers making costly mistakes. I blog about a variety of topics, such as troubleshooting uneven tyre wear, the benefits of regular servicing and maintaining your car during the winter months. I hope you find my blog useful.

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Getting To Grips With Essential Car Maintenance

Understanding the planishing method

Reginald Fox

Any repairs to the general bodywork of your vehicle following an accident or damage are referred to as panel beating. Skilled panel beating craftsmen, commonly known as panel beaters, are responsible for carrying out the needed restoration auto body works. A number of techniques are employed by panel beaters during the course of their job, including metal working, welding, sanding and spray painting, just to mention a few. In the event that the bodywork is not damaged past repair, planishing technique is often deployed. This article provides an in-depth analysis of the planishing process.

Equipments used

You might want to know what tools are used during the planishing process. A planishing hammer and planishing stake are synonymous with the planishing method. A planishing hammer is simply a flat or faintly curved hammer while a planishing stake is a robust metal whose top end forms into a ball or curved smooth surface.

Planishing technique

Planishing is a tedious task that involves smoothing out a dented surface held against a planishing stake by landing soft blows on the surface using a punishing hammer. The stake on which the dented surface is positioned for hammering is typically shaped based on the desired final design of the auto bodywork being worked on.

This method requires excellent hand-eye coordination. Do note that striking the bodywork too hard might distort its shape instead of aligning it to the desired shape. Therefore, panel beaters often apply a little bit of force, almost a tap when striking the dented surface. They focus to strike the bodywork section exactly where it lies on the stake. Repeated tapping over the dented surface will see all the dents and other imperfections disappear completely. As a result, the panel beater can restore the damaged auto body work into the desired factory shape.

The planishing method has been in use since pre-historic times up to today. Although the method is tedious, it certainly works in restoration of damaged auto bodywork. With technological advancements ringing changes in the automotive industry to a great extent, the planishing technique has not also been left behind in terms of technological upgrade. Nowadays, planishing hammers are power-driven or pneumatic. And a result, a greater amount of precision and speed is achieved when restoring dented bodywork. This has definitely eased the work of panel beaters (like those at Southern Smash Repairs) to some extent. Furthermore, mechanised planishing hammers can shape or stretch a variety of bodyworks, including copper, brass, aluminium and steel among other metals.


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