Can double flush rivets be squeezed on TE

[Barneybc12d]

I left a lot of tracks on the bottom of the trim tab trailing edge when I back riveted. In trying to stay away from the break in the skin (very close to the rivets) I caused numerous dents.
Has anyone tried to squeeze these double flush rivets on the wedge shaped TE with modified dies?

[Don]

I never tried squeezing the double flush rivets but I doubt that it can be done with a hand squeezer. There just isn't enough oomph. I'm not familiar enough with the pneumatic squeezers to know if they'd work.

When you talk about leaving tracks, it makes me think you've got your air pressure set too high or you're not holding the rivet gun perpendicular (in 2 axis) to the work, or both. You really need to learn to rivet correctly if your going to finish the project. You simply can't squeeze everything. So maybe do some practicing on a non-airplane part, or get someone with experience to give you a lesson and learn the technique. It really isn't too hard.

[NovaBandit]

I did this on my RV10.

I riveted the rudder trailing edge with the rivet gun, but I squeezed all the rest of the trailing edges with a rivet set that had been ground down to the same angle as the trailing edge.

The squeezed rivets turned out much better than the bucked rivets, but you have to be very careful to center the set on the rivet. If you have the set too far in, you will over squeeze because of the increased thickness of the trailing edge.

[UnPossible]

I took a basic sheet metal class at Grov-Air in Indianapolis 5 or so years ago, where we built the small section of an aileron with double flush rivets.
They had modified a flat squeezer set to squeeze the double flush rivets.

I did the same thing for both the rudders of my 7A, and the 10 that I am building now. I just sanded down a flat set so that the angle matched the angle of the wedge. I found that it works better if you partially set the rivet with two flats, then finish the squeeze with the angled set.

Good luck,
Jason

[BARRON]

Squeezing is the way to go on these skins, and especially if u have low EDs. "edge distance". You're definitely going to need a ground die to the right angle to match the wedge. A small Piece of 1/8 thick, soft rubber with a hole in it to go over the tail of the rivet will help to keep the skins together as u squeeze the rivet, and reduce, if not eliminate tooling marks.the rubber will slip out from under the rivet as u squeeze it to full shop head. I work in aviation, and this little technique has lots of millage.

[jswareiv]

Originally Posted by BARRON

Squeezing is the way to go on these skins, and especially if u have low EDs. "edge distance". You're definitely going to need a ground die to the right angle to match the wedge. A small Piece of 1/8 thick, soft rubber with a hole in it to go over the tail of the rivet will help to keep the skins together as u squeeze the rivet, and reduce, if not eliminate tooling marks.the rubber will slip out from under the rivet as u squeeze it to full shop head. I work in aviation, and this little technique has lots of millage.

Barron, sounds like the best way to do it. Do you have any pictures of the rubber setup? Seems like the rubber would cause you from getting a good final squeeze. I am having a little trouble picturing it. What is the best way to grind down the die? Scotchbrite Wheel? Thanks.

[UnPossible]

I just used a belt sander with 50-60 grit to get the angle, then polished it up with the scotchbrite wheel

[Tom023]

Originally Posted by jswareiv

Seems like the rubber would cause you from getting a good final squeeze. I am having a little trouble picturing it.

I use a rubber faucet washer over the rivet shank and it compresses all the way down enough to set the rivet correctly. The rubber, pushes the against the metal and holds the pieces against one another. This trick was illustrated in Kitplane two or three months ago.

[N941WR]

I ground some flush dies to the right angle and squeezed them.

Here is a picture:

(click to enlarge)

Originally Posted by UnPossible

I just used a belt sander with 50-60 grit to get the angle, then polished it up with the scotchbrite wheel

Be very careful doing this. You do NOT want to mix steel and aluminum parts on the same Scotch-Brite wheel. If you do, you will end up pushing microscopic bits of steal into your aluminum parts, which could cause corrosion to form later on. The same goes for sanding belts & disks, do not mix steel and aluminum on the same sanding surface.

[BARRON]

The rubber can be just about anything. You wanted to be about 1/8 inch thick, or two be flush with the river tail before you buck it. Just make sure it's a soft rubber that will buck down with the rivet. I would love to send you a picture but I don't know how to load a picture on this site