Door skin pliers

[Unkel Kunkel]

I can’t recall, sometime before the turn of the  century, I must have bought these:

Clarke door skin pliers .

I have never used them.

I am about to re-skin  a Spitfire door and was planning  to do the hammer and dolly  approach..  then found I had these things.

I think it was claimed they make it quicker , easier and  less likely to mark the door skin in the hands of the amateur - I qualify for entry into that category. 

If there were ever any instructions they disappeared long ago.

If anyone has any views/ advice /tips that they can offer, please?

I would be most grateful

 

 

 

 

 

[Chilliman]

Hammer & dolly every time for me - plenty of control, can be rolled gradually & with the correct dolly should never produce marks on the skin.

[Colin Lindsay]

Those were in every Courier for years! Made fitting Herald and Vitesse door skins a doddle. They were used to bend the excess door skin round the door frame without marking or denting it, and then giving a good crimp to the edges. 

If you can bear the presenter, here's a video of similar:

 

[Unkel Kunkel]

Thanks Chiliman and Colin,

- I think  I’ll start off with the hammer and dolly and then,  like in the U tube clip,  give the gadget pliers  a cautious try too..

[Josef]

You will need to start with a hammer and dolly, get a nice flat dolly! Because of the structure of the Spitfire doors the pliers make the bottom edge much easier to finish. It is not too difficult to mark the skin with them if you get your angle a bit wrong though.

[Unkel Kunkel]

18 hours ago, Josef said:

You will need to start with a hammer and dolly, get a nice flat dolly! Because of the structure of the Spitfire doors the pliers make the bottom edge much easier to finish. It is not too difficult to mark the skin with them if you get your angle a bit wrong though.

Thanks, Josef for  your advice.

Appreciate  and absorb advice, views and insight like a sponge before I get going on anything where I have no knowledge or experience. 

“Time spent on recognizance is never wasted” 

 

edited…

-or oops, obviously.. Time spent ..checking  spelling..

 “ reconnaissance “

 

Edited August 1, 2022 by Unkel Kunkel
failure to check spelling

[Colin Lindsay]

10 hours ago, Unkel Kunkel said:

“Time spent on recognizance is never wasted” 

Ah yes, Shi Tzu the Chinese warrior and dog breeder.

Practice on odd bits of metal, same as I always do - the garage is littered with odd pieces that look almost like something useful but not quite.

[Mark B]

Owned the Sykes Pickervant version for probably 30 years. Used a few times on Vitesse and Spitfire skins with perfect results. Replaced a Spitfire skin a few weeks ago after not using the tool for years, and managed to cause a couple of tiny dents along the bottom edge when I rushed it and used a bit to much force. Take you time to gradually fold the edge over, not like me. I use the wide pad on the face of the skin but also used a thick strip of card a little longer than the pad to help distribute the force to the skin.

[Josef]

3 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said:

Ah yes, Shi Tzu the Chinese warrior and dog breeder.

And owner of terrible menageries 

[Unkel Kunkel]

4 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said:

Ah yes, Shi Tzu the Chinese warrior and dog breeder.

Practice on odd bits of metal, same as I always do - the garage is littered with odd pieces that look almost like something useful but not quite.

My failure to check spelling..recognais..

Vaguely remember a joke about someone complaining ,”I went to a new animal park.What a total rip-off! It only had one animal, a very small Chinese dog.It was a shit zoo”

[Josef]

Yeah, that’s what my comment was alluding to

[Unkel Kunkel]

Just an update:

Helped and encouraged by advice from here, and after a bit of U-tube watching I re-skinned a door for the first time.

I used a hammer and dolly on the edges to gradually bend the edge over from 90 degrees to around 45 and then used and the door skin pliers, little by little.

I found the door skin pliers to be a really great help.I was most impressed how well they worked- they are simple but well-designed.

Not only did they make up for for my lack of experience and skill but they also were able to tackle the lower edge of the Spitfire door which is angled quite sharply inwards-( Josef mentioned this) I would have found this very difficult to reach with a hammer and dolly.

I copied the hammering technique I saw on U-tube -which is not so  hammering but more of a very rapid fairly gentle tapping whilst constantly moving back and forth along the edge.

It took a long time - and It’s a noisy job.Ear defenders needed.Closed doors to maintain diplomatic relations in the household and with neighbours!

So door skin pliers? A most  definite  “Yes” from me.

( I bought them decades ago .I don’t recall them being expensive - I was surprised to see how expensive they are now)