hammer & dolly - use hammer from inside or outside the dent?

[sircrunch]

I de-trimmed a car and I was filling the holes by welding them up. I was being careful not to heat the panel up to much as I was doing it, but somehow I have one small warped spot on it that needs to be corrected. It might have been there before I started but not sure. It is dented inward, not bad, and the dent is confined to a small area.

I have a hammer and dolly set i bought from harbor freight. The hammers are smooth on the head, not rippled.

If the dent is inward, would i use my hammer on the outside and the dolly on the inside? or the dolly on the outside and the hammer on the inside?

[tech69]

if it's inward hit from the inside with dolly on backside. I guess you can try both sides though. It won't hurt as long as you aren't smashing things around. When I work metal and there's plenty of access I like to block the front and back quickly. My boss hates it but I think it's the best way to quickly spot the exact spots that need addressing. I usually utilize both sides and have had great results by doing both sides.

Your basics are hammer off dolly, which your dolly is not directly behind the hammer which will raise the area over dolly and lower the hammered area.

Hammer on dolly is to smooth it out. Sometimes following a hammer off session.

In your case, a hammer on dolly will re stretch the area in question. Right now it's shrunk and so it's taken out of it's shape trying to pull the surrounding metal with it. Give it back it's proper flex and it will be gone.