Ron Covell is one of the metal shapers that inspires every hot rod builder, and his classes and lessons are some of the best anywhere. He’s always showing great ways to make metal do what you want and often teaches how to make tools that will make doing so even easier. I’ve been watching his videos for a while now and am always intrigued by his tips and tricks, but his tools and forms, and processes are what really inspire me to shape metal. In this video, Ron shows us how to make some cool forms that will allow you to shape sheet metal into some pretty nice shapes without complicated tools and equipment. In fact, if you make these forms then using them just requires clamping them to your work surface so you can bend the sheet metal around them by hand.

The facets on these forms make them strong and create pressure points for the metal to bend against, and all of it results in incredibly smooth bends. When you watch the video, you’ll see how Ron uses them and see just how you could use them to make your own panels. I can see hoods, transmission tunnels, and more being made with this method. Check it out and be inspired.