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dimpling backwards

prkaye

Well Known Member
I dimpled a bunch of holes in a skin last night... the wrong way! Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Anyway, I just turned the piece over and dimpled them back through the proper way (using hte DDR2). The dimples look OK, but I'm wondering how much I've weakened these holes (work hardening?).
Do you think this is OK?
 
Elsewhere in this forum, someone else did the same thing. They were told by Vans that if you dimpled the skin in the wrong direction, you can redimple it ONE time. You can call Vans for piece of mind.
 
At the Van's School they told me

First, it is good that you pay attention and care about the end result. This is a real airplane you are buliding and whether you are a hot fighter pilot or the CEO of you own company worshipped by you associates, this task you have taken on is about the airplane, not you. Give it your very best. When I went to the now dead builder's school at Van's in North Plains, Oregon we were told this will probably happen and when it does just turn it over and do it the other way. Like you I hate to do it but don't get paranoid about every little mistake - when they happen you have to work through then and move on at at least a theoretical less than perfect level. After you have been on another task and look back at your earlier mistake you probably will realise that what you did is actually a pretty good piece of work.

Bob Axsom
 
Get a magnifying glass, or even better a jewelers loupe, and take a real good look at the dimples from both sides of the skin, look at the inner edges of the rivet hole, and the angles where the dimple meets the skin.

If you find any cracking ----------------well, it wont go away, and it will get worse.

Mike
 
Last edited:
prkaye said:
I dimpled a bunch of holes in a skin last night... the wrong way! Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Anyway, I just turned the piece over and dimpled them back through the proper way (using hte DDR2). The dimples look OK, but I'm wondering how much I've weakened these holes (work hardening?).
Do you think this is OK?
This is perhaps too late for you but I think the left and right wing skins are mirrors of each other.
If you dimpled one the wrong way and haven't dimpled the other, just reverse which wing you put it on.

I haven't really thought this through so if it is wrong, there are all sorts of traffic cops on here to correct the fallacy.

-mike
 
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