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pneumatic squeezer

lorne green

Well Known Member
So I took the plunge and bought a "Brown" (chicago type) squeezer. Just trying to set this thing up. I'm having difficulty squeezing AN270AD-5's. Even with pressure up at 110psi. I can see that there is sigificant force being exhurted :confused: Am I missing something?... I thought these things could squeeze most rivet sizes on an RV. I actually had to break out my rivet gun and buck the front and rear HS spars by hand :eek:
 
I assume you mean AN470AD4-5.

My guess is that you have adjusted the squeezer to close too far. The pneumatic squeezer, particularly a single piston design, will develop the most force at the end of its stroke. So you want to set it up (with shims or with your adjustable set if you have one) so that it's reaching the END of the stroke when the rivet is just fully set.

Hope this makes sense...lemme know if not.
 
lorne green said:
So I took the plunge and bought a "Brown" (chicago type) squeezer. Just trying to set this thing up. I'm having difficulty squeezing AN270AD-5's. Even with pressure up at 110psi. I can see that there is sigificant force being exhurted :confused: Am I missing something?... I thought these things could squeeze most rivet sizes on an RV. I actually had to break out my rivet gun and buck the front and rear HS spars by hand :eek:

Lorne,
Several of the "C" type squeezers only produce their rated pressure at near the limit of travel. I would HIGHLY recomend the adjustable (rather than shimmed) type adjustment. The adjustable system allows you to start the upset of a larger rivet and them close up to provide a finished shop head. I was able to do all the rivets in the HS spar for my RV-10 with the squeezer. Set the squeezer as loose as possible so that you can still finish the rivet and you will have the best results.
Bill Jepson
Rotary10-RV
 
squeezer

I changed to a 2 1/2" yoke (from the longeron yoke) and adjusted the opening to the smallest possible and I can fully squeeze an AN470AD4-4 but no joy with squeezing the -5. I'll keep playing with it. thanks
 
lorne green said:
I changed to a 2 1/2" yoke (from the longeron yoke) and adjusted the opening to the smallest possible and I can fully squeeze an AN470AD4-4 but no joy with squeezing the -5. I'll keep playing with it. thanks
The 4-4 and the 4-5 should take the exact same force to upset. If the squeezer will do one it will do the other. Just keep loosening the squeezer's set so that it finishes the stroke earlier. A good initial stroke to set is based the theoretical squeeze for any rivet: The rivet should protrude 1.5 diameters before you start and only .5 diameters or less after it's squeezed.
Measure the starting length of the rivet and then set your finish squeezer gap to starting length minus one rivet diameter.

This setting will never over-squeeze the rivet but will ensure the squeezer is operating in its highest force regime.

-mike
 
" Just keep loosening the squeezer's set so that it finishes the stroke earlier. "

This should fix your problem. I love my C214 :D
 
PSI?

Three other possibilities...

1. My squeezer runs on 90PSI. If the pressure is too low you will have problems. Check your squeezer instructions for the optimal PSI setting.

2. If that is correct, then make sure your set is inserted into the squeezer properly. I have an Avery squeezer and the set has a definite correct and incorrect orientation. If the set is rotated to the incorrect orientation, it may not slide freely in the lower yoke hole. The added resistance could prevent full stroke on a stout rivet.

3. Lastly, the top arm of the yoke will flex a bit when the rivet is set. I find that with the 4-x rivets, I have to adjust the set about 1/2 turn past the no-rivet-in-place gap setting. This compensates for the yoke flexure and seems to work pretty well. Use pieces of scrap aluminum sheeting to get a representative thickness and squeeze a few practice rivets to get the feel for the right setting. After a while you will know how much to adjust the set based on experience.

Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
could be the rivet

lorne green said:
I changed to a 2 1/2" yoke (from the longeron yoke) and adjusted the opening to the smallest possible and I can fully squeeze an AN470AD4-4 but no joy with squeezing the -5. I'll keep playing with it. thanks

Try cutting down a rivet to a -5. I had a batch of rivets, I believe they where 470AD4-5's, that were very hard. In fact they split when they finally squeezed. I cut down a longer rivet and that worked just fine. I ordered a new batch of -5's later on and they worked great.
 
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