Journal

Currently I have two students working/learning at the shop – Brian from Ohio and Londun, from Georgia. Brian will be here for about 30 days total, and Londun will be here till the 30th. Londun is a total beginner he is only 19, he drove up on his own found an inexpensive AirBnb room and […]

SHEETMETAL SHAPING WITH WRAY SCHELIN AT PROSHAPER PART 1 Story and photos by Ron Smith A small crowd of guys waits outside a shop in the crisp morning Massachusetts air, sharing experiences and aspirations in the field of sheetmetal shaping while awaiting our mentor, Wray Schelin, proprietor of ProShaper. We six are as varied in […]

These are a few of the pictures we have of the Macauley Speedster it was built in the early 1930’s by Packard Motor Co. for the president of Packard Motors and the car disappeared in the midst of time and all that remains is just a few pictures of it. From these pictures we made […]

Insert from Lars Anderson Auto Mueseum demonstration by Wray Schelin Working sheet metal (gold and silver first- later copper, bronze, and steel) was one of the first human crafts developed. All of the skill sets required to make sheet metal  conform to a craftsman’s desired shape, were discovered in the very early years of human […]

For our November Coachbuilding / Metal Shaping Class most of my students focused on a hot rod wire form design I had made.   [youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFwZqtm1_Po[/youtube]   First day for the hands on portion of my four day coachbuilding class. Two more full days left. Check out some of the results so far.   […]

My March sheet metal shaping class is at the beginning of day three. Another great bunch of enthusiastic car guys are attending. I had six signed up for the class but Jim from NJ, had to transfer into the April class because of bad driving conditions last Thursday. John from NH had to leave last […]

One more class progress picture of Bruce from NH slapping his reverse curve panel into the correct radius profile on the post dolly. This is the first panel Bruce has ever made, it’s the rear reverse curve section of the side skirt of Scott’s 1934 Ford front fender. Reverse curve panels like this one can […]

Some day three pictures from Wray Schelin’s March 2015 coachbuilding class in Stafford Springs, CT. Tim from MO has been shaping a new .060″ 3003 aluminum boot lid skin for Kevin’s Cobra. He has the two panels that make up the boot lid skin all perfect (completed pictures will be posted tomorrow). The next step […]

Still more pictures from day three of Wray Schelin’s March 2015 coachbuilding class. The first picture is of Bruce with his 1934 Ford fender reverse curve skirt section that he made. This was the first panel he has ever made. The second picture is of Kevin’s finished Cobra hood surround. He and Tim finished the […]