• An English wheel is a metal-shaping tool that has a large wheel with a flat working surface on top and a smaller wheel below it with a curved working surface. It comes in many sizes and looks like a large "C." Steel or aluminum is shaped by passing the metal panel back and forth between the wheels. The English wheel acts like a silent, continuous hammer that doesn't leave hammer marks on the metal. Different pressures from the two wheels and the size of the wheels determine what happens to the sheet of metal.
  
  

Panels in Cavities and Polishing

• An English wheel can be used to put panels in a cavity or depression. Yacht builders use this tool to create steel plates out of steel I-beams. They use motorized chain-driven trolleys to move these large beams back and forth to create the plates within the beam's depression.
  
  The English wheel is also used to polish metal. The pressure from the wheels create different contours on the metal, smoothing out rough marks, creating a shinier panel.
  
  

Planishing

• Planishing is the process of smoothing by light pressure. English wheels are ideal for these applications, enabling metal workers to shape low crowns and large and/or thin panels. Using an English wheel to shape a high number of crowns on metal panels is a slow process. Also, the wheel is limited to working with soft metals like aluminum for planishing. However, it can shape small, intricate panels. This is especially good for car and aircraft manufacturers that need to make intricate parts for their machines.
  
  

Stretching

• The English wheel is also used to stretch metal. As the wheeling process continues, the metal wears down in thickness as it becomes wider. As the metal stretches, the panel becomes larger (in area) but thinner. The metal worker has to adjust the pressure of the wheel on the metal as it stretches, as the required pressure decreases the thinner the metal gets. If the pressure is not adjusted accordingly, the metal is either insufficiently worked from too little pressure or overworked from excessive pressure.