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Skin riveting - making it pretty

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david.allen(at)boeing.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 9:18 am Post subject: Skin riveting - making it pretty

I started out at ground zero -- never even seen a rivet gun, let alone

used one -- luckily I had some friends who helped me get started.

Have now completed the tail, wings and half the fuselage on my 9A kit.



I had never been really satisfied with the cosmetics of the flush skin

rivets -- seems like there is always some slight deformation in the

vicinity of each rivet.



Somewhere along the line, it occurred to me that the only really

"pretty" rivets were those on the stiffeners that were back-riveted.



So I switched over to back-riveting everywhere possible -- using a

"dumbell" bucking bar (round with about 2" round knob on one end), the

standard 3" back-rivet set and a long offset back-riveter when needed to

get around rib or bulkhead flanges, etc. -- I got all these from Avery.



I'm now using the back-rivet process whether working alone or with an

assistant.



My assistant (wife) is a little intimidated with using the gun or the

bucking bar in the normal riveting process but seems to be much more

comfortable with the dumbell bar in the back-riveting process.

Communication between the two workers seems to be easier too -- the gun

operator can see immediate results of his actions, etc.



Bottom line is that I'm more satisfied with the results.



You old timers will probably be bored to death with this but hopefully

it will be helpful to the beginners -- I wish I could go back and re-do

some of my more visible skin surfaces.



Dave Allen

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n616tb(at)btsapps.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 9:32 am Post subject: Skin riveting - making it pretty

Hi David,



My back riveting on my -6 was also my best but in part due to the really

flat surface of the riveting plate on my bench.  I found that riveting the

normal way worked OK so long as I pre tested my pressure settings.  This was

the key for me.  I also used only a 2x gun and that was helpful most of the

time.  Can you share your experience about why you think you had difficulty

with riveting?  Back riveting works great however so enjoy.



Tim



[quote] --

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smittysrv

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 67

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 11:58 am Post subject: Skin riveting - making it pretty

Hi Dave,



Someone suggested to me at the beginning of my project to purchase a swivel

flush rivet set for my rivet gun. He told me that the swivel on this set

would cover my butt when I don't hold the rivet set perfectly perpendicular

to the skin when riveting and bucking.



http://www.smittysrv.com/toolpics/SwivelFlushRivetSet.jpg



Here's an entry on my website where I talk about the pros and cons of

backriveting with the 10 inch backriveting tool against using a flush rivet

set and rivet gun on the wing skins. I agree that the standard "short"

backriveting tool does great work and is indeed preferable when putting in

stiffeners. I also put rivet tape over every rivet that I put in.



http://www.smittysrv.com/more_stuff.asp?ID=438



Smitty

http://SmittysRV.com

Original Message:

-----------------

From: EXT-Allen, David david.allen(at)boeing.com

Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2007 12:16:54 -0500

To: rv-list(at)matronics.com

Subject: Skin riveting - making it pretty




I started out at ground zero -- never even seen a rivet gun, let alone

used one -- luckily I had some friends who helped me get started.

Have now completed the tail, wings and half the fuselage on my 9A kit.



I had never been really satisfied with the cosmetics of the flush skin

rivets -- seems like there is always some slight deformation in the

vicinity of each rivet.



Somewhere along the line, it occurred to me that the only really

"pretty" rivets were those on the stiffeners that were back-riveted.



So I switched over to back-riveting everywhere possible -- using a

"dumbell" bucking bar (round with about 2" round knob on one end), the

standard 3" back-rivet set and a long offset back-riveter when needed to

get around rib or bulkhead flanges, etc. -- I got all these from Avery.



I'm now using the back-rivet process whether working alone or with an

assistant.



My assistant (wife) is a little intimidated with using the gun or the

bucking bar in the normal riveting process but seems to be much more

comfortable with the dumbell bar in the back-riveting process.

Communication between the two workers seems to be easier too -- the gun

operator can see immediate results of his actions, etc.



Bottom line is that I'm more satisfied with the results.



You old timers will probably be bored to death with this but hopefully

it will be helpful to the beginners -- I wish I could go back and re-do

some of my more visible skin surfaces.



Dave Allen



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_________________
Smittys RV-9A
SmittysRV.com

dbris200(at)sbcglobal.net
Guest

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 1:16 pm Post subject: Skin riveting - making it pretty

Dave,



You can get rid of those deformations pretty easily by tapping VERY 

lightly on the shop head with no bucking bar on the other side. Where I 

could, I used a universal head set in my rivet gun, otherwise a small 

hammer will usually do the job. Using the universal rivet set tends to 

just round off the shop head a little instead of smashing it. Be sure to 

do a test first so you know how hard you're going to hit it.



Dave Bristol  -6 So Cal

EAA Technical Counselor



EXT-Allen, David wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   



 I started out at ground zero -- never even seen a rivet gun, let alone

 used one -- luckily I had some friends who helped me get started.

 Have now completed the tail, wings and half the fuselage on my 9A kit.



 I had never been really satisfied with the cosmetics of the flush skin

 rivets -- seems like there is always some slight deformation in the

 vicinity of each rivet.



 Somewhere along the line, it occurred to me that the only really

 "pretty" rivets were those on the stiffeners that were back-riveted.



 So I switched over to back-riveting everywhere possible -- using a

 "dumbell" bucking bar (round with about 2" round knob on one end), the

 standard 3" back-rivet set and a long offset back-riveter when needed to

 get around rib or bulkhead flanges, etc. -- I got all these from Avery.



 I'm now using the back-rivet process whether working alone or with an

 assistant.



 My assistant (wife) is a little intimidated with using the gun or the

 bucking bar in the normal riveting process but seems to be much more

 comfortable with the dumbell bar in the back-riveting process.

 Communication between the two workers seems to be easier too -- the gun

 operator can see immediate results of his actions, etc.



 Bottom line is that I'm more satisfied with the results.



 You old timers will probably be bored to death with this but hopefully

 it will be helpful to the beginners -- I wish I could go back and re-do

 some of my more visible skin surfaces.



 Dave Allen

- The Matronics RV-List Email Forum -

Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:

http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?RV-List

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