I keep thinking about it too. But never used them. I did use the ones Eastwood sells. Probably the same Chinese one.

Ive had the PA pair for several years and use them for patch panels. Most recent is the bottom of the front fenders on the 57. There are limits that the metal can move but a little practice and it falls right in place.

I just clamp them in my vise. I have a 5 jaw vise but it needs to be really tight otherwise the shrinker or stretcher will move when using.

Jacob wrote:

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there a great tool use them omost weekly at work. best thing you can do is make sure the metal is clean from any paint or coating and less is more its very easy to over do a spot.

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 I've had the borrowed unit here almost a week. Wow, I can't believe I've gone decades without one of these things. What a great tool. It makes such nice bends.

Thanks for the tip on taking the paint off. I didn't realize that. I've been bending metal that was the top of a 66 Pontiac trunk lid. I suppose I better clean the jaws before I return his tool, it will likely have paint in there.

I'll be watching for a sale on the shrinker/stretcher unit and be buying one, no doubt. I can't ever imagine doing metal repair with out one, especially stuff like wheel well lips and windshield channels.

I have that set from Princess Auto. To be honest I was skeptical buying them but man do they do the job. We've used them a lot. I always leave the handles out of them when not in use so rust doesn't form on the jaws. It's important to follow the instructions with them and take them apart every so often for cleaning, lightly oil and reassemble. Initially I had them anchored to a work table I built but that flexed too much. They are now anchored to my workbench, made of 3 2X10's and they work great. Highly recommend buying them!

Since I'm spending two hours reading online while listening to our very own 66_Grande_Guy on the radio, I thought I should post a picture of what these shrinker/stretchers can do for those not familiar with them. 

If you've ever fixed a rotted out windshield or back window channel and had to bend pieces of metal to do it, if you didn't have this tool you were frustrated! When I got the borrowed tool home, I decided to play around with it to see what it could do. My first effort took about 5 minutes to make this piece. I know now (thanks for the tip a few posts above this Jacob!) my one mistake was not stripping the paint off the piece first but it still turned out fine. 

I can't imagine how easy it would be to make repair pieces for rusty wheel lips on front fenders and quarter panels using this tool.

 

You will be amazed. If you've ever tried to make a piece like I pictured, you know how ugly that job is.

pontiax wrote:

 Next project piece you do, you can borrow my large version. I also have a English wheel set. 

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 One thing for sure, the next project will not be rusty window channels!

Thanks for the offer, I'll keep that in mind.

I think my next metal working project will be reshaping the aftermarket 4 speed hump into a useable configuration.

Princess has the shrinker/stretcher kit on sale for $159 starting today. I just ordered mine and it's supposed to arrive tomorrow. Looking forward to having it even though I know I won't use it a ton.

Metal Shrinker and Stretcher Set (princessauto.com)