Tools/materials for metal shaped bumpers and such

[Desert Rc]

I see a lot of threads on brazing. But I am wondering what tools/materials people are using when making bumpers out of sheet metal. Now I have a steel like bumper on one of my rigs that is made from square tube...only problem is it is near impossible to drill thru. Now that I am getting into brazing I was hoping to get some ideas with making metal scale bumpers that are easier to shape and cut.

Hoping to open this thread to techniques...

Also how do people make/shape the nice metal side paneling...Like DMG?? Now my questions are getting all over the place.

I guess the easy question is what metal stock are people using for brazing, and what are the affordable tools that one should acquire to work with this metal stock other then just tubing.

[warriorsimi]

homedepot is your friend,the steel i use is thin steel sheets from the depot,not sure on gage but i think it's 25 gauge,for side panels you can use alluminum like the roofing flashing or tin flashing .3/16ths solid rod or 1/8th rod,a dremel with cutoff blades the reinforced ones or to cut the rods i use a 6" cut off saw from harverfreight about $50 bucks and blades are real cheap.for the bumpers you can make patterns out of cardboard then trace on steel ,you will also need tin snips or a sheer cutter.

[murdock]

i'm using weldsheet 6"x18" 22 gauge steel from ace ($7) and a set of ace brand snips. ($11)

and cardboard for templates, free w/ purchase of beer/soda.

good luck.

[Charlie-III]

Sheet steel, aluminum & brass as well as steel & brass rod in various diameters can usually be found at a local hobby shop (Zeppelin Hobbies in Wayne, NJ has this stuff).
Industrial supply places (like McMaster-Carr) carries a lot of similar items.

I use a lot of 5/32" steel rod for a 1/10th scale Fat Girl I am building with my son.

CHeaper aluminum sheet can be found at Home Depot, etc., it is used as roof flashing material and comes on a roll. You can usually get:
Natural aluminum
Brown
White