Industrial > Metal
My name is Lars, but I go under my nickname LAZZE, (Lassie)
I would like to tell you the history behind my metal shaping technique.
When I was growing up, about four or five years old, I started to build things, I liked creating something from nothing, or from something that another person had no use for. Around the age of eight, I got into working with metal, because my dad was always making something and his hobbies inspired me.
We had one problem, I could only bend a sheet of metal one way, like over a pipe or in a vise; 90 degrees or similar, and one of my first projects was to build an exhaust for my moped; two cones and a straight piece in between with a pipe on both ends. That was my starting introduction to Metal Shaping.
I learned to bend sheet metal but if I wanted to bend a sheet in three dimensions, I just couldn't do it. I could cut the piece and bend it, weld it and make it the best I could, but the result wasn't exactly what I wanted.
So at that time I said to myself, "there must be another way to do this instead of making dies and stamping the parts that I needed". That question stayed in my mind for a long time, and after many years of struggling, I saw a picture of an English Wheel.
I understood then, that it was possible to shape the metal convex or concave, and that got me very excited. I built my first English Wheel and with a simple construction I began to shape the metal in 3D.
The result wasn't completely satisfying, but I knew that if I improved the wheel, the frame, and the C-shape, I could get better results. So I developed a new version, and I felt that I was on the right track. Over many years I developed my English Wheel to what it is today; an outstanding tool after years of constant improvement.
The right tools make a big difference
I was very happy, now I could shape the metal in 3D, but I still couldn't control the sheet metal the way I wanted. I was closer, but I had a long way to go. I started to use the small Twin Shrink / Stretcher together with my English wheel.
At first I thought the Shrink / Stretcher was a toy, but I was amazed at what I could do with it. I could control the sheet much more, but as you know when you see that you can control the sheet the way you want to, you get hooked. I wanted more; I wanted to do much more.
One day I saw a Bead Roller, a hand operated machine that companies in Sweden used for applying sheet metal on houses, around windows and roofs, but nobody thought about using it for making car parts, a light turned on in my head!
Details
- Last Updated
- 12/Nov/2024
- Contact
- Lars Jansson
- [email protected]
- Phone
- (925) 461-2961
- Website
- https://www.lazzemetalshaping.com/index.cfm?
- Address
- 1051 Serpentine Ln Ste 500Pleasanton, CA 94566