Jaybannist(at)cs.com
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 Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 5:41 am Post subject: Riveting |
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Gary,
Excellent post!!
I wondered if anyone else felt the same way I did about riveting. That was the part I enjoyed the most, also. It was kind of the "pay off" for just a whole bunch of prep work. I could hardly wait to get to that part, even though sometimes it was with trepidation, not knowing if I was getting ahead of myself. In the end: Very satisfying & "Where it's at."
BTW, I have no compressed air. I've built the whole thing with electric tools. The rivet pulling I did with a "RiveDrill" attachment for a hand drill. I wore out two of them. Better that than wearing out a hand or two!
Jay in Dallas 601XL N2630J
"Gary Ray" <davgray(at)sbcglobal.net> wrote:
| Quote: |
All drill bits are not the same. Many require much higher feed pressures
even though they cost 3X.
I found a huge difference between the standard High speed black steel bits
that are the most common and inexpensive vs the high end triple price bits
that are more optimized for harder metals. Also supply houses do not seem
to know there is a difference so they will sell a bit that requires such a
high feed pressure that they will dent the thin base metal before starting
the cut.
I had the best luck with sharp standard high speed black steel bit from Home
Depo. Always start with a small bit 3/32 and work your way up. A higher
RPM produces less burring of the hole. A good hole is made with the right
bit and feed pressure.
At $1.68 each replace them when dull. I used about 24 1/8 inch bits for the
entire aircraft and 12 - 5/16 inch and 24 - 3/32 inch. Plus a 1/8 x 18 inch
bit and one 5/16 x 18 inch bit and a set of very short bits that came with a
flex drive for those tight fit or retrofit areas that need to be drilled out
and redone.
The air tools are nice because the RPM is higher but I have to admit that I
used the cordless drill a lot.
Other items include:
A bandsaw with a wide throat, a Delta 8 inch disc sander w/ a 1 inch x 42
inch belt sander, a deep throated drill press, a good fly cutter, rapid
deburring tools, and several sizes of fine toothed files, a good vise, three
good levels (2 foot, 4 foot, and laser), 4,8,& 12 foot straight edge of
aluminum strips w/ marks for 20mm 30mm 40mm, 50mm rivet spacing, metric tape
measure, english tape measure, good Weiss metal shears, Olfa knife, lots of
clamps and clecos, and and a perfectly flat and square 14 foot x 4 foot
table. I had the pneumatic rivet puller and preferred the hand pullers even
on bigger jobs. It takes about one hour to actually do the final riveting
of one entire wing surface by hand. You don't need to set all of the rivets
at one time. Setting the final rivets are one of the more enjoyable parts
of building. After hours/days/weeks of prep work you might want to savor
this part.
Gary Ray
601XL 59 hrTT
davgray(at)sbcglobal.net
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