Critique My Practice kits.

[LuisR]

Completed the tool box kit last night. Took me some 6 hours to complete. Being the first riveting I have ever done, I took my time. All the rivets checked good with the gauge except for the first bucked rivet on the hinge which was nearly fattened. I couldn't find it on the picture though. Used the pneumatic squeezer for the sides and bucked the hinges. I could have used the squeezer for the whole thing but wanted to PRACTICE bucking on the toolbox.

Also, The control surface practice kit I completed today. Took me some 8 hours or so. This was also not hard to do either. Only issue I had was the rib flange that butts to the spar bowed away from the spar when squeezing. It seemed to bow out at the very last part of the squeeze. The flange and spar were flush with one cleco holding the rib to the spar but separated on the squeeze. I added cleco clamps for the second rivet for the rib/spar and same thing. Same thing happened to the other rib. I'm thinking it was squeezing too much and I should have backed off the set a bit but didn't think of it till after the kit was completed. I couldn't figure out how to set the last rivet on the rib forward the trailing edge. I couldn't fit anything in there to buck nor the thin nose yoke fit. On this kit, I back riveted , squeezed, bucked and double flush back riveted which really did not seem very difficult. One thing was difficult though, dimpling the last 2 rivets on each flange near the trailing edge. Not even the "close quarters dimple set" from CT helped in this case. I'll have to order the vise grip dimples to have on hand to try the next time some thing like this happens again.

You guys be the judge, see the pictures here... Let me know what you think.

https://goo.gl/photos/m725AjEQ8keuNapCA

I'm quite happy with the results overall.

[AdamB]

For dimpling in those tight spots, I ended up ordering this:
http://www.cleavelandtool.com/Tight-.../#.V1QoeOTRWbQ

I use it quite a lot on places that I can't get to easily with my DRDT-2.
I bought the rivet gun set that typically comes with a C-Frame as well, as I didn't have one of those.
http://www.cleavelandtool.com/401-Ri.../#.V1Qo4-TRWbQ

Also, check out this video for riveting in those tight places.

http://www.eaavideo.org/video.aspx?v=5337092001

[LuisR]

I have the CT Special tool you linked to also. I couldn't figure out how to use it. Now I know why, it needs that rivet gun piece that I can slip a male dimple die into. That makes more sense. Wonder why thats not automatically included in the tool kit since the kit had the special tool. I'll have to ask CT to see if there is another way they recommend to use the tool if not just order the rivet gun set to accept the male dimple die.

CT site as a good EAA video on it's use.

Thanks for the reply.

[PilotRPI]

For those trailing edge corner rivets, did you try making that tool in the plans with the practice kit? Worked for me both dimpling those spots and riveting. For the second rivet in that spot, I had to grind it down a little to less than 1/8th thick.

[Pool Shark]

Just completed the Toolbox Kit today. Total time = 8 hours (2.5 hours of which was fabricating a 'Custom' Handle).



Here are a few tips for those planning to build the Toolbox Kit:

1) Don't automatically follow the plans verbatim. While the main point of building the Toolbox Kit is to learn certain building skills; you also want (hopefully) to build a high-quality Toolbox. I had plenty of practice using the rivet gun on Van's Control Surface Practice Kit, so I decided to use techniques on the Toolbox Kit that would yield the 'best' results. I found that I could use my squeezer on every single rivet in the kit (fortunately, I had the 4" No-Hole Yoke to set the rivets for the handle and those 'deep' ones on the sides).

2) DON'T DIMPLE THE HINGES!!! I know the plans tell you to, but DON'T DO IT! To make the lid close snuggly when the latch is snapped close, you will have to position the hinge so that there is a slight amount of tension that develops just before the lid reaches the fully-closed position. I found that when I did this, the pre-punched holes along the toolbox back face did not line up exactly with the centerline of the hinge flange (they were closer to the eyelet side of the hinge). When you start dimpling this hinge, the soft aluminum will stretch on the side where the holes are closer to the edge of the hinge flange. This will cause the hinge to 'fan out' and bow laterally. While you can force the hinge back into position with clecos, the side of the toolbox will buckle and the lid won't close properly.
Instead of dimpling the hinges, try countersinking them.

3) Make it yours. Hey, we're building 'experimental' aircraft; no 2 will ever by exactly alike. Many of us will make major modifications to our RV's. Why not start with the Toolbox Practice Kit?
I didn't like the tiny piece of wire and little aluminum clips used for the handle; it didn't seem to fit the scale of the rest of the kit.
Instead, I bent some 1/8" stainless welding rod I had laying around and fabricated two small brackets from the 0.062"x3/4"x3/4" aluminum angle that comes with the Control Surface Practice Kit. Here's a close-up:



Finally: Have Fun with it!

Time to start the RV-10 Empennage Kit...