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Flush Rivet Set

Mikeyb

Well Known Member
I haven’t seen anyone post about the Boeing or ST flush rivet set that Brown Aviation sell. If you are working by yourself it is far superior to the other options. The conventional all metal one is the best if someone is bucking the rivet or if it is close to an edge that the bumper can dent but on most rivets it delivers a flat zero mar better than a squeezer finish. The ones with the big red cup are an accident waiting to happen. I threw it away after taking the picture.
 

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Good find! Ordering now :)

I ordered a swivel flush set .. wow another accident waiting to happen .. threw it out after about a minute :eek:
 
I have two of the "Boeing" style ones with the yellow/orange ring around the face, one with a 1" face and one 1.25" They are great.



I don't care for the swivel kind at all. I have never gotten mine to work properly--it skitters around--and I even did the whole process of grinding the edge rubber down like has been suggested.
 
That Boeing one is the bomb. I got one used in a box full of stuff and use it for pretty much everything I can get away with. If my garage sale special ever wears out, I would happily pay the $50 bucks for a new one and consider it money well spent.
 
I Agree - the boeing one is the bomb

I got one (just like the one on the left on the photo) when I was partway through my empennage, and it's definitely the go-to for flush riveting. It's got to be a real tricky rivet to get me to take it out of the gun & use something else.

I have used a swivel set though for bottom wing skin rivets around the flap attach brackets, with tape around the edge so it didn't damage the flap bracket when riveting.
 
Swivel set

Everyone is different. My swivel set has built two airplanes. Not a single dent from the set. Love it and helpers always prefer it because it can be a little off perpendicular and still sits flush.
 
I have all three.

Put me in the "big red cup with a swivel" camp. Nearly impossible to screw up or put hammer tracks in the surface. I found the key is to trim the rubber to 1/16" by putting it on a disc sander. Only 15,000 rivets in, but I wouldn't be without it.

Different strokes I guess. Go figure!
 
I haven’t seen anyone post about the Boeing or ST flush rivet set that Brown Aviation sell. If you are working by yourself it is far superior to the other options. The conventional all metal one is the best if someone is bucking the rivet or if it is close to an edge that the bumper can dent but on most rivets it delivers a flat zero mar better than a squeezer finish. The ones with the big red cup are an accident waiting to happen. I threw it away after taking the picture.

What diameter is the one on the left? I see Brown offers 3 different diameters? What size and do you recommend more than one size?
Thanks,
Jim
 
It’s a 3/4”. It was the same size as the Cleveland tool plain set I had previously
I am no expert and kind of shaky. I just tried it and it worked for me.
 

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Yikes
It’s a 1”. Add measuring to the list of things I’m not an expert in.
Free advice is worth what you pay for it.
 
Retainer spring?

Sorry to bump and old thread, but I just got one of these Boeing sets and it is great, but doesn’t work with the quick release retainer spring I have. The diameter below the head is 0.750” and it is too narrow to allow the set to work anyways. What are you all using for a retainer?

I tried it on a practice piece with no retainer but that seemed a little risky.
 
I have all three.

Put me in the "big red cup with a swivel" camp. Nearly impossible to screw up or put hammer tracks in the surface. I found the key is to trim the rubber to 1/16" by putting it on a disc sander. Only 15,000 rivets in, but I wouldn't be without it.

Different strokes I guess. Go figure!

Exactly. My “big red cup set” is on RV #4. I use the straight set for perhaps a dozen rivets.

Carl
 
A bit of a thread necro here, apologies...

I've used an Avery swivel set for probably 1,000 or so rivets, and while it sets rivets well, with no skin marring, it did take some practice learning to control it's tendency to "walk" while using it as a solo builder.

I had an issue setting a rivet in a corner (aileron underside up near the brackets) using the swivel head. Perhaps it's my technique, but trying to get pressure over the rivet would cause the gun to want to skitter off the rivet. I imagine if I had had another hand to hold the set in place, this would be a non issue.

I borrowed a friends straight flush rivet set similar to the Boeing anti-slip discussed here, hoping it could get into that corner area better. Wow, have I been missing out. Perhaps since I've learned riveting using the "rank bull" swivel set, using this set was, dare I say, "Easy Button" mode. No slipping, no tendency to walk.

I'm keeping both - a future helper may find the swivel set easier to use with both hands, but for solo building, I think I'm gonna have to switch to one of these.

Next question is size to order ...
 
Here is a pic of the one in the original post one RV8 later. If I built another plane I might buy one a little bigger
 

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... If I built another plane I might buy one a little bigger

Now that's interesting - why bigger? I was actually thinking of going with the 3/4" one so it can get into the corners better, but honestly I don't know what the benefits of one over the other are.
 
I pretty much ran all the flush rivets with that set. I discovered it early building the empennage and it was revolutionary. I found it faster and cleaner than a squeezer on skin edges for instance. For the most part that size was perfect and a bigger set would interfere at edges. There are a few cases where you are riveting thin curved surface like around the back bottom of the fuselage a slightly larger set might distribute the load better. Again it’s a tool and pretty subjective. If I was building again I’d buy a bigger one as well just to try it.
 
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It’s like a regular solid flush mushroom set with a polyurethane bumper around the edge. I think it must be a motor skill thing but riveting by myself resulted in zero walk/mar rivets even when I was all stretched out like the bottom fuse skins. You can feel and see when the set is tangent to the part.
 
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I've used all three rivet sets shown in the first post. I haven't created any smileys yet but...both the Boeing and Avery swivel sets create VERY unsightly rings around the rivets. Not dents. Just basically scratches in the skin where the rings are. The standard rivet set with blue painters tape leave a perfect finish on the skins.

For those of you using the Boeing or Avery sets, are you putting blue painters tape over the entire head - including covering the nylon and rubber rings??

The Avery swivel head has worked fine for me as far as control goes but the skins look so bad I don't want to use it any more.

Yes, these "rings" around the rivets will be covered by paint some day but I just prefer to have smooth, shiny skins while building.
 
It’s been a while and I’m sure I’m no better than average but I found this pic of which all the rivets in this pic were done with the Boeing set. With me driving and bucking with no tape. It’s a tool and highly subjective but I liked it because it didn’t leave any marks.
 

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...I liked it because it didn’t leave any marks.

Man, your skins looks great! I wish mine looked the same after using the Boeing style set. It's like the nylon ring on mine has abrasives of some type embedded in it. I'm going to look at mine again more closely. Maybe it needs to be cleaned or something?

I just ordered a fourth rivet set. This one swivels but has no rubber or nylon ring around it. Maybe fourth time will be a charm.
 
It’s a never ending debate. To be fair I got better as I went along and can’t remember when I discovered the Boeing set but I remember using it on trailing edges on the wings rather than squeezing because the squeezer left little rings. The empennage might be more challenging because the material is so thin and is curved.
 
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