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Duties Of A Truck Panel Beater And The Tools Of Their Trade

by Aubree Richardson

Many businesses who use large vehicles, such as trucks, to carry out deliveries for their customers may have to call on the services of a truck panel beater when one of their vehicles has been involved in an accident. A panel beater may also be required if a business' vehicles have been damaged in a storm. Let's take a look at some of the duties performed by a truck panel beater, and the tools they use to get the job done.

Training And Duties

It can take years for a truck panel beater to become fully accomplished at their work, and panel beating is often seen as an 'art'. Restoring dented and damaged panels on a truck back to factory standards is the aim of a panel beater. After first assessing the damage, a panel beater will decide if a damaged section of a truck can be repaired or needs to be replaced. As the learning section of a panel beater's job may be long, many qualified beaters will work on different types of panel beating jobs during their training. This serves to give them a full understanding of working with different types of metal, and how the metals react when being worked upon. If you employ a fully qualified panel beater for your business' trucks, you can be sure that the panel beater has a wealth of experience to call upon to get your truck properly repaired.

Hammers

A truck panel beater has an array of tools and implements to help them get the job done. These include:

  • Blocking hammer – for striking heavy blows to the metal
  • Planishing hammer – for the smoothing and finishing of a panel
  • Shrinking hammer – similar to a planishing hammer, but has a ribbed face
  • Pick hammer – for raising the edges of a panel.

Other essential tools used by a truck panel beater are the mallet, panel cutters and metal snips.

Dollies

Dollies are metal blocks which come in different sizes and shapes. The dollies used depend on the truck panel itself, and the correct dolly is selected after an assessment by the panel beater. The damaged panel has a dolly placed behind it, and is struck with a hammer from the front, slowly restoring the correct shape of the panel.

Leather Sandback

Many truck panel beaters use a leather sandbag as support, when striking blows with the blocking hammer. The cushion supports and absorbs the blows of the hammer, allowing the re-shaping of the metal.

Other tools employed by a truck panel beater are sanders, grinders, foot operated electric hammers, stretchers and pneumatic chisels. Most panel beaters are able to weld metal as well.

For more information, contact an auto shop such as B.T Ryan Smash Repairs.

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