Setting quarter panels by hand versus using frame machines today

Back then, we hammered and dollied metal until it fit. Used body filler sparingly. Now, frame machines pull everything to spec. Saves time for sure. But I feel like we lose the art of metal shaping. New guys might not learn how to read the steel. Old timers say it's about skill. New school says it's about efficiency. Where do you stand on this?

3 comments

3 Comments

river_allen2mo ago

Agree with murphy.abby about losing the feel for metal being a real loss.

murphy.abby2mo ago

Skip the hand work, and you skip learning how metal breathes. I've seen guys pull a panel to spec but still have waves you can only feel with your palm. The machine gets it close, but your eyes and hands finish the job. Old skills let you fix a bad pull or work with thin, rusty steel that a machine might tear. Yeah, it's slower, but calling it just "art" ignores how it saves your butt when tech fails. We should teach both, or we'll have a generation of body guys who can't handle a simple dent without a computer.

lunaf672mo ago

Yeah, that hands-on feel is something you just can't get from a machine reading. Relying only on the tech leaves you stranded when it can't fix the problem, or when you're working with older materials. The old skills are a backup plan that never goes out of style.