In the mid 80's I had the good fortune to a hobby panel beating/restoration TAFE course at Noble Park Tech 1 night a week 6pm til 10pm. Regretfully I had to give it up because my free nights just evaporated. It was very valuable because it gave me access to machines I would never have been able to get at eg swage m/c, wheeling m/c, folders, rollers etc etc. Now that I've got more time, I'd love to get back in it- pref western subs. They are not being advertised & Geelong said they stopped them because there was no demand. Does anyone know of any- day or night?

I'd definitely be interested in this as well.

Andrew

i passed a tafe that had a mechanical type area in it, it was located behind the depot hotel in richmond close to richmond station. sorry i dont know a name. if u want i can find out. this was years ago though, like 6 years.
i've been tossing up the same idea, do that or finish my other course........

cheers

That would probably be North Richmond tech! They started it all but from memory they were pretty gung ho back then- lead wiping NO BOG etc etc. Maybe things have changed- I'll give'em a call.

Great minds think alike-

I was actually hoping to do a tafe course some time this year. I want to get back into training again (Martial Arts) and rejoin scouts leading again. If I have any spare time I'd like to teach myself to weld better and mabey fibreglassing then go to Tafe and find out how it's supposed to be done.

This year will be full on so I will just have to wait and see how I go for time. A tack here and a matt there shouldn't be too much trouble though.

I know its not the same and isnt in Oz but if your planning a trip to Cali maybe you could syncronise and do this at the same time! http://www.larsab.se/ 

You should see the work they do, its looks great!!!!!!

I would love to go on a good course but theres not many part time courses over here for that, there are great full time courses but i couldnt afford to give up work and go into education!!

Rob.

Try Barton TAFE in Richmond, I did my pre-apprenticeship (Mechanic) course there. It's the best equipped TAFE for all Automotive stuff.

I found these courses at Chisholm

http://webserver1.chisholm.vic.edu.au/index.cfm?item=ed-short-search3 

a bit basic for you guys but looks like they would be ideal for me

to take a piece of metal and shape it into a guard or part of a vehicle is a lost and dying art performed by very few and taught by even less.it is my dream to one day have the ability to do this type of work but like a lot of people i live to far away from tafe colleges that still teach it.
i can paint my car ,weld ,repair rust but to build from scratch that would be nice.
as far as lead goes i don,t like it ,i have seen lead cracks to much and if you aren't super clean you are just asiking for trouble.i use the best filler money can buy and get the metal right so you just need a skim to take out fine scratches.
if you find a tafe course that still teaches it let me no ,i may still have to try to do it some day before i,m to old.

When I was at barton, the panelbeating students were taught how to fabricate complex shapes from sheetmetal, some of it was really impressive.
That was about 7 years ago, so I guess they would still teach that stuff.

I just completed two years of Panel Forming (AKA Panel Beating) at Meadowbank Tafe Sydney .. It was great and well worth the time .. Considering I repaired and straighted by bonnet & deck lid and have a box full of plate all for free .. The last two years were $200 each (For 12 months) but this year they have changed the set up .. It is now called Vehicle Restotration - Panel Beating Skills there are two courses Introduction & Advanced.

11/2 - 1/7 or 22/7 - 9/12

they are 4 hour sessions 5.30pm - 9.30pm but the cost per sessin is now $368...

Hence I wont be doing it this year !

But it is worth it .. However it will take you 12 months before you actually begin working on anything that resembles a car part .. The course is all abour forming mild steel sheets and welding .