VAF Forums

VAF Forums (https://vansairforce.net/community/index.php)
-   RV-12/RV-12iS (https://vansairforce.net/community/forumdisplay.php?f=73)
-   -   Filled rivet heads (https://vansairforce.net/community/showthread.php?t=162114)

Dave12 07-09-2018 05:52 PM

Filled rivet heads
 
Does anyone remember what Geico (Larry Geiger) used to fill the rivet heads on the Rv12 he built?

Mich48041 07-09-2018 05:57 PM

I remember that he used a syringe. I do not remember what was in it.

Mich48041 07-09-2018 06:02 PM

I did a google search for "syringe vansairforce geico" without quotes and found THIS thread. Larry mentioned Superfil.

David Paule 07-09-2018 07:39 PM

I've heard of using 3M's 2216 epoxy from a syringe.

Dave

engineerofsorts 07-10-2018 02:55 AM

I used colored epoxy
 
I used a rather fine-gauge syringe with the plain old west system resin/hardener I used on the fiberglass. I found it difficult to see how much epoxy was going in the hole, so I used some colorant (comes in a tube from West) to give it some opacity. Since my rivet puller tended to leave a burr on the mandrel hole, I gently demurred the hole before filling with epoxy. If the epoxy is a little too high, it can then be easily sliced off with a blade after curing. (If there is a burr, it makes sliced the excess off a real pain). It sounds, and is, tedious, but I would guesstimate I did the exterior rivets on the entire plane in about eight hours, and I?m quite pleased with the results after painting.

bcondrey 07-10-2018 09:40 AM

I ran into Larry a few weeks ago and that very subject came up. He used a syringe and needle from a farm supply store and injected micro into the rivet heads. Subject came up while he was looking at the local Aviation Nation RV-12 teen build that I?m helping with.

Phantom30 07-10-2018 11:45 AM

I can verify that filling rivets will add .0001 knots to cruise speed 🤓

rv9builder 07-10-2018 09:43 PM

Is appearance the only reason to fill the rivet heads? Is there a practical reason, like keeping water out of the wings and fuselage when it rains or preventing loose mandrels from falling out?

RFSchaller 07-10-2018 10:01 PM

Looks like the answer to the question nobody asked!😜
Definitely more work than I want to do.

Gagarin737 07-11-2018 03:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rv9builder (Post 1272620)
Is appearance the only reason to fill the rivet heads? Is there a practical reason, like keeping water out of the wings and fuselage when it rains or preventing loose mandrels from falling out?

The reason for me to fill the rivet heads was to keep the dirt out. I saw an aircraft with unfilled rivets and that particular plane had black strips running from the rivets.
It took about 40 hours to fill/sand all rivets, not that bad.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:48 AM.