Shrinking Disc 4 ½ Inch – Sheet Metal Fabrication Tool – Auto Body Panel Repair, Smoothing, Grinder

Shocked! This thing works! I had oil canning on my quarter panel after I did some hammer and dolly work. I was so disappointed. I saw a bunch of videos on using a shrinking disk to get rid of the oil canning. I was not convinced. The disk fit on my HF grinder with a few washers to make it flush. At first I was crestfallen. It did not work. I played around with it a little and figured out just how to use it and I was amazed that I got rid of the oil canning in three different spots on my quarter panel. For me, it was all about working on a small dime sized spot on the peak of the oil can section. I would give it 10 stars if I could. I did not want to be replacing a quarter panel.

I use this for doing light shrinking in tight areas. To use install on angle grinder and rest pad on the steel. Turn the angle grinder on and work a small area. As the steel warms the high spots will rise. Get the metal just hot enough you cant touch it if it turns blue, or starts throwing sparks you are grinding material away. Turn grinder off and let the disk rub the steel till it stops. Remove and quickly use either compressed air or a wet dish rag to rapidly cool the area. This will cause the metal to contract helping to bring down high spots. Get steel back to room temperature before checking to see if more work needs to be done.

I am a total metal working novice but I watched a couple videos about shrinking disc usage so I would know what to do. I used the thick sharpie marker as instructed. One video referred to the sharpie as a kind of "lubricant" for the disc and as a visual indicator of the high spots. The other video referred to the sharpie as a way to insulate the low spots from the heat. I don't know which one was correct. I also needed to cobble together a spacer for my angle grinder so the arbor didn't stick out past the plane of the surface. Keep this in mind. My project involved a wide flat area of stretched out stainless steel trim. This surface was to be wet sanded and polished to a mirror finish so shrinking out the ripples was my only hope at success. It took many hours of repeated application and a lot of patience, but I could literally see the bumps and ripples disappearing little by little. Since I was not doing body work where small scratches would be filled in with spot putty and primer, I was disappointed with the deep scratches this wheel left behind. It took some aggressive sanding with 80 grit to get back on track toward my mirror finish. I don't know if the scratches were due to my lack of skill or somehow inherent to this tool. If I ever have a sheet metal project where the surface will be painted, I have absolutely no doubt that I could use this tool to get me well within range to have 1/32 inch thick filler or less.

This thing is amazing! I never used a shrinking disk before and thoroughly educated my self before attempting to use it. Worked like magic! The key to this thing is knowing something about body work and metal work in particular. If you have never used a hammer & dolly or done any heat shrinking before then this might not be for you.

As the title states, I was pleasantly surprised with how well this works. Don't expect it to work in one pass, as it is a slow process. I used a little bit of soapy water in a spay jug to cool the spots I was trying to shrink. The slight soap residue acted as a lubricant to keep the disc from galling. It doesn't take very long for the spots to heat up.

I only needed it for one small job and it was adequate. If you plan on using it on a big job or several jobs I would recommend one of the 8 inch discs. I had to make a spacer to use it on my Dewalt grinder but that was a minor issue. As stated the usefulness depends on the size of your job.

The product does what I want it to do... I own a 9-inch one that lives on the grinder but this was better for small sections. So no one talks about how to mount this on the grinder.... The HF 4-1/2 in. Fiber Disc Backing Pads(HERCULES, WARRIOR) only works with heave mods. Other things I have tried that work way better with less to no mods... a Thiccc flap disc and warn-out Carbide Grinding Cup Wheel.

I think the 7" may work a little better. I bought this to try my hand at metal shrinking. After countless hours I gave up and bought a new hood. Not for the amateur

Al principio fue un poco difícil de entender como usarla, pero con práctica es muy útil para dar firmeza a los paneles que están cresidos

Small unit but it works well for shrinking metal , great for small high spots , hit steel for 5 to 15 sec then cool with air and watch the magic

I bought one before and it works excellent for moving metal. good quality lasted long time. Bought a second one as used first one down after lots of use. Delivery fast

Junk. Spend your money on a better quality product.

Works well, seems well made