Sanding Rivets
 

I was riveting my VS skeleton rib to the front spar and could not find the rivets called out in the plans. I took longer rivets and used my belt sander to sand them down to the right size and bucked them. Is there any problem sanding rivets down rather than cutting them? I do not have a rivet cutter.

Heat?
 

Naruto,

As long as you aren't heating the rivets appreciably or marring them by whatever you are using to hold them with it is probably OK, but that is easier said than done. If you have overheated the rivets too much (easy to do with a belt sander) you may have inadvertently changed their temper and thereby changing their strength properties.

Definitely want to invest in a rivet cutter, you will use it enough in your project to justify the cost and they are pretty cheap anyway.

Good luck with your VS,

Rob

I used a needle nose plier to hold the rivet which was a size 5. I sanded them down to about a size 4. The edges were smooth and not marred or burned. They did get hot from the sanding when I held them but cooled down in about a second. The rivet look like any other rivet after they were bucket. After I closed the VS, I found the size 4 bag under my workbench. I used about five sanded rivets when riveting the front spar and ribs.

Do yourself a favor
 

Naruto,

I'm guessing you'll probably be ok, but why bother and why take chances? Rivets are cheap and readily available. Maintain a well organized assortment of all common types and sizes (including half sizes) at your workshop, and it'll make your project go a lot smoother. You'll know immediately what you don't have (seeing an empty bin), and then you can order from Van's, Spruce, or any of a number of sources.

One of the best pieces of advice I was given at the start of my project was to first take all those little baggies from the kit and sort the hardware into bins or some kind of organizer. Packing the hardware into baggies make it easier for Van's, not for you. Sorting them is a PITA, but you only have to do it once.

Good luck,

Yup, agree with Roee. By the time you get done ( or close) you will have boxes of rivets on the shelf and wonder how you could have been short during the Emp stage. Roee and I (although I have never met him) have a couple of sloooow builds, and suffered through some of these pains together via this site.

In any event, get a rivet cutter, they are cheap and you will use them more than you think.

For example, I use a lot of "cheaters" mostly for installing nutplates etc. Buy one small bag of "cheaters" about -8's and then cut them to any size you want them.

JMO
Larry

Right you are, Larry. But I have to say, I have nothing against rivet cutters, but I've never needed to use one. I too use NAS1097 rivets ("cheater" rivets, I presume?) sometimes for nutplates. But the only sizes I've ever needed are -3, -3.5, and -4, all of which I keep on-hand. Plus I have small quantities of a few bigger sizes, just in case I ever need them.

P.S. yep, I think my claim to fame is "slowest quick build ever" ;) How's yours coming along, Larry?

Naruto - Vans says (in chapter 5?) rivet cutters are nice, but you can get by with a good pair of side cutters (commonly called dykes).
A good pair of flush-cut side cutters cuts rivets square, and as a bonus is the best thing to use on tie-wraps/"zip"-ties too.

I actually have a pair of dykes but thought it would not make a smooth cut so I went with the sander. I guess I should have at least try to cut one first. I appreciate all the great info as it all has been very helpful.

I always thought of them as "dikes" not "dykes":
 

And I just checked:

"Dikes ? as in the phrase "a pair of dikes" ? is jargon used especially in the electrical industry, to describe diagonal pliers."

But it goes on to say that "dyke" is an alternative spelling.

My dikes are manly dikes!

Mark

LOL

My dikes are manly too.