Taping down the ridges

[Coitster]

Hey guys,
I personaly use a nylon knock down tool. What kind of knock downs do you all use. And also a question for the guys with tons of experiance, what is your best way to start working a large dent where it obviously has ridges that need to be knocked down. Do you start pushing the dent first or knocking down the ridges.
David
Coitster

[gaf]

coit, alwayswork the highs first. on larger dents I use 4 paintsticks that I duct taped together to knock down the larger crown. The way that I explain taking the crowns out first is put a dent in a soda can make it kind of big, if you go in and try to push the dent before the highs are pushed all you will do is make highs in the metal. however if you go to the outside of the can and squeeze the two pointed edges of the dent the dent will release and be almost perfectly smooth. Give this a try and let me know how it works. if you have any questions pm me or give me a call.

[dentmedic]

Hi,

You ask the right questions.
Those white nylon knock downs are not user friendly and you will get better results using a steel bore knock down for normal highs and a rubber tip knock down for crowns. Check http://www.ultradenttools.com for the rubber tipped one. http://www.pdqtools.com for the steel bore.
Also, a small craftsman rubber/yellow plastic mallet works ok for crowns.

Try lots of light placement posistions to see the crown and pratice, you'll get it!
Jason the Dent Medic

[Coitster]

One interesting thing that I say this weekend at MTE is really how if you really work the crowns on a dent before you put a tool in how much better a dent will come up. I watched KDP work a dent and he litteraly worked the crowns for over 15 minutes before he stuck a tool in. I saw him working a crown over 8 inches from the dent. By the time he put the tool in the door the dent was over 90% gone.

It was really increadable to watch him do it. I learned so much.
David
Coitster

[jboulton]

OK! I just joined and am a NOOB at PDR. What I am about to say works for me but I have been doing it for almost 50 years! (Auto body repair)
On those mild ridges or crowns as you call them I use 1. The paint stick routine as outlined earlier and .... now be very carefull here.... a hammer!
I use a 6 ounce Proto cross beam... wrapped in 4 or five layers ( on the face) of masking tape... Now the reason I use this hammer is because it is almost perfectly concave with a fairly large surface area. Ifyou strike dead on you will make a dent. I don't quite know how to describe this but I rattle the hammer with a slightly sideways action and I really barely touch the surface. Almost like a perdiddle if you know drums.....
This is one of those things that you have to develop a feel for. It's more of a pushing motion then it is striking motion.....
Well it works!!, but I guarantee you it's not for everybody......
If you have any doubts please ignore this foolish post!!