When you're learning a new skill, it takes time. It takes patience and you are going to make mistakes. Making mistakes is just part of that learning process. So in today's video, I'm gonna talk about three common mistakes that most new techs make when they're first learning paintless dent removal.
#1 Mistake - Trying to remove too larger dent.
Mistake number one. So most new tech start by trying to remove too large dent. Even back when I did my training, we started on a bonnet panel that had a number of different dents already in it. And the idea was we would get a feel for the tools by trying to remove a dent. Now, I believe it's much easier to get a feel for the tools working on an undamaged section of panel. So my training platform we start with a flat, open, undamaged section of metal, and we first learn how to identify and locate the tip of the tool.
Once we've got a feel for that tip location, we then move on to applying pressure. This allows us to get a feel for the tools without being distracted or over complicating it with trying to read reflections at the same time. So we start by learning how to find the tip of the tool and then how much pressure we need to start moving metal. So mistake number one is starting with too large a dent when we first started off of our PDR training.
#2 Mistake - Cross Checking
Mistake number two. So this is all about cross checking. I believe most people think about cross checking towards the end of the repair. So in those finishing stages. Now, this might work If you're already got some experience, you might just double check at the end of your repair. But if you're just starting out and you're learning, it is so important to regularly cross check throughout the repair process the cleaner, the repair process, the cleaner the finishing will be, and most people struggle with that last 10-15% of finishing a repair.
So as you start to move the metal, you start lifting lows, tapping down some tension. You should check your repair from the left from the right from above and below cross check every single angle to make sure that you are getting a clean repair process. Often from one angle, it can look like we're really making progress, taking out the lows But when we check from the other side, we can see that we've missed a whole lot of tension or creating high spots that we haven't been able to read properly. So it's so important to regularly cross check your repair from start to finish, not just at the finishing stages. So a mistake Number two is all about cross checking.
#3 Mistake - Don't Underestimate
Mistake Number three. Now this is a big one. It's a little bit vague, but still so many people underestimate what's involved in learning PDR. I regularly hear from people that I've done perhaps a one week course or a two week course saying that they're still struggling to remove dents. It's a process that takes a while to learn. I generally give an indication of 6 to 12 months to get to a high level of removing some fairly basic, simple, dents and then once we've got a solid foundation, we then developed into more complex repairs and becoming quicker at the repair process.
But so many people underestimate just what's involved in how to remove dents and then also what's involved in running a successful PDR business. So mistake number three is underestimating just what's involved in learning PDR and becoming a successful PDR technician.
So that's a run through of what I believe to be three of the most common mistakes that most new PDR techs make. If you'd like to learn more about the tools, the training, the techniques and everything you need to get started in a PDR industry, you can have a chat with me directly. Come and visit me at learn pdronline.com. Hopefully, you've enjoyed the video. So I'm Tom, we've learned PDR online. Thank you for watching.