Eastwood Panelbeater Sandbag Demo - Just Beat It

Then, using the small point of my smallest teardrop mallet, I hammered along the drawn line until I got the proper curve to match the cab.

With the upper curve in place, I then flipped the patch panel over and transferred my pattern to the back side. At this point it was time to make the crown-displayed using the red and blue lines. By hammering with the big end of my mallet, I created the proper crown in my panel.

When things looked to be in the vicinity of what I was after, I then cut my pattern out with a pair of tin snips.

Here you see that my initial test run is pretty dead on, in terms of the proper size and shape.

As I needed to make a few tweaks here and there, I took my patch back over to the bag and hammered them out. One thing I did find while working for a while: when the piece of metal got smaller, the firmer the bag, the better. When it comes to working with this bag you'll find its firmness and shape is all to your liking.

With the patch ready to be welded in, I readied the area and busted out another Eastwood product: Anti-Heat Compound. The Eastwood Anti-Heat Compound absorbs excess surface heat...

...By spreading it on 3/8 of an inch thick as close to the weld as possible, the compound confines the heat zone to the open area. It's also nontoxic, harmless to skin, asbestos-free, and reusable.

Once welded in, I used my Eastwood body tools, from a previous story, to massage any imperfections in the job.

There you have it. The patch is welded in and blends nicely. Although hard to see from pics, the patch is pretty much right on track with the flowing lines of the cab. That's the beauty of the bag and mallets: one can shape metal time and time again to get consistent, accurate panels for whatever job presents itself.