Squeezer Yokes: Explained?

Hello everyone,

I am about to take a build class in North Texas in a few weeks, and I am sure I will quickly learn the answer to this question...however, in the meantime, I am curious:

On the yokes for the squeezers, am I correct in assuming that certain ones are interchangeable between the hand squeezers and the pneumatic squeezer? And I am still trying to figure out the whole "no hole yoke" thing.

Can someone give me a quick tutorial? I have a pneumatic squeezer I bought, and I am thinking of buying a hand squeezer next week from Avery. I could use some knowledge here, before I make some sort of mistakes in which product I select. Thanks in advance!!!! I appreciate all replies.

Gary,

I'll try to give you a quick overview of squeezers. The most common pneumatic squeezer in use these days is a variation or clone of the Chicago Pneumatic 214 "C" type squeezer. I assume that this is what you have. There are various yokes available for this squeezer that you can use depending on how you have to reach the rivet. The most common yoke is a 2" to 3" standard yoke into which a rivet or dimple die is inserted. This die mates with the die in the squeezers plunger to squeeze the rivet or dimple the material. This yoke can be used most of the time but cannot get into tight spaces due to the length of the die. A no hole yoke does not have a die hole in it, but rather has a flat surface against which you squeeze the rivet. This tip can get into a much tighter location, but cannot be used for dimpling. This yoke is very useful for squeezing the last rivets in places such as the corners of empennage ribs. Another useful yoke is the longeron yoke which gives you the capability of squeeezing a rivet over an obstruction like a flange. I have a 2" no hole yoke, a 3" standard yoke and a longeron yoke. This seems to handle most of the rivets I've run into.

Depending on the hand squeezer you get, yokes may be interchangable with your pneumatic squeezer. The Avery hand squeezer can use the same yoke as the standard 214 clone. I have both a pneumatic and Avery hand squeezer, but never use the hand squeezer. I would wait to purchase the hand squeezer until you decide if you really need it.

If you don't have them already, I would get an adjustable set holder and quick change yoke pins for your squeezer. The pins make changing yokes very quick and the adjustable set holder make adjusting the squeezer for the right rivet length much easier. Avery has these as well.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you need more info.

Good luck on your project, you are in for a great time.

Thanks, Paul!

Thanks a million! That does answer a lot of my rookie questions! I do have the 214 pneumatic, so your descriptions were a huge help. I figure since I only live 30-minutes from Avery, that I'll just take the entire pneumatic squeezer over there, and get them to hook me up.

I will also get the other yokes you mentioned, while I am there.

Again, thanks for the info!

Gary,


The people at Avery's are great, I have a lot of their stuff. The only thing I might do differently if I were to buy yokes again is I might get a longer no hole yoke. Avery's can probaly tell you what size is most popular.

Good luck,

Paul's description/explanation is right on. Just for comparison purposes, I'll tell you that I have the standard (2"?) yoke, a standard 3" yoke, a long (4") no-hole yoke and a longeron yoke.

I've used all of them for one thing or another. The reason I have 2 standard yokes is that I bought two different complete squeezers and each came with a yoke. If I had to buy each yoke separately, I'd probably NOT have the bigger standard yoke. The longeron yoke can take it's place when I need a little more reach.

I've also got a pneumatic and an Avery hand squeezer. I hardly ever use the hand squeezer. I'd hold off on buying it until you see a need unless you're a dedicated tool junkie and just want one of everything!

Best regards,

Rod Woodard
KFNL

RWoodard said:

Paul's description/explanation is right on. Just for comparison purposes, I'll tell you that I have the standard (2"?) yoke, a standard 3" yoke, a long (4") no-hole yoke and a longeron yoke.

Click to expand...

I have the exact same collection as Rod but only one squeezer. I agree with Rod that only need one standard yoke is needed.

I do not have a pneumatic squeezer (Yes, I am doing the entire plane by hand.) and the only time I felt like I needed one was when dimpling and riveting the gap seal on the trailing edge of the wing. Man, there are a lot of rivets to squeeze back there! I was afraid I would damage a lot of parts if I used a pneumatic squeezer so I never bought one. However, if I were to start over, I would probably buy one.

BTW, don?t forget that you can use the yokes for a bucking bar in a pinch.

Also, I found the no-hole yoke very helpful in tight spaces such as the end of the elevators, ailerons, and flap ribs. I would use the handle of some small pliers to spread the tip of the rib open and then slide the yoke in and squeeze the rivet. There is a picture of this on my web site at the end of the aileron page.