Basic Riveting Question

Hi all, hope everyone is having a good weekend. I'm an RV-8 newbie and just getting started on the Empenage Kit after fooling around for almost a year getting the shop set up and all the tools & equipment ready. This is my first post.

It's the simple things that trip me up, and I came to "all stop" last night when I could not decide on which direction to install and squeeze the rivets for the Horiz.Stab Rear Spar & Stiffeners (HS-603 and 609PP). Does the shop head go on the thinner "spar side", or on the much thicker "stiffener side"?


Thanks!

John Munroe
Woodstock, VA
http://www.mykitlog.com/jmunroe

John,

Welcome to the VAF forum.

As a general rule, the factory head goes on the side of the thin material and the shop head goes next to the thicker.

This is a rule that can and will be broken from time to time.

Thank you Bill. That makes sense when thinking about it, but just wasn't sure.

Regards,
John

Reason to Break the Rule

On reason to not put the factory head on the thinner material has to do with the ability to access it later to remove the rivet (if needed ) by drilling it out. It is much easier to drill out a rivet from the factory head side, with the dimple as a starting point.

It doesn't really matter which way you rivet. However, Bill's advice is good as the manufactured head will clamp the thinner material which otherwise may be distorted when bucking the rivet going the other way.

That being said, be careful as Van's will sometimes indicate in the drawing which side to put the head and therefore tail of the rivet.

Got it. Good advice and thanks again. I never even considered possible distortion along with making it easier to drill things out later. After drilling out a few rivets while constructing Van's training projects, anything to make that task easier will be appreciated.

What's really amazing is that within 20 minute I had the answer I needed!

Heading to the shop in a few minutes to give this a go.

Cheers,
John

John,

Check out the tips section of this forum. There is a really good thread on drilling out rivets.

Piggy back...

Thought I would piggy back on this thread as I am making the same decision. I did a few rivets already, but stopped (most of the rivets in the photo are just sitting in the holes).

The videos for the empennage build that Van's sells, as well as several builder logs, show the shop head of the rivet on these HS rear spar rivets on the thinner material. This is the direction I started going as you can see in my picture:




However, now after remembering what I've read and such, I know that the factory head generally should go on the thinner material (the spar channels, in this case).

Should I drill out the rivets I started with and switch my technique, or what is the reason that the videos and other builders have gone the path I started with?

Thanks!

aviationgeek84 said:

Should I drill out the rivets I started with and switch my technique, or what is the reason that the videos and other builders have gone the path I started with?

Click to expand...

No! Do not drill out perfectly good rivets. You can continue the way you started or switch horses in mid-stream.
The rule calling for the shop head being on the thicker material is a good one, but certainly not a "hard" one.

Mel,

Thanks for the reply. I think I'll just continue on the way I started - it seems like this particular area is one where both ways have been used.

I have shot tens of thousands of rivets. Never heard of a "rule" for which side the head goes on. I put mine in which ever side is easiest to get the rivet gun on unless the mfg'd head needs to be on one side or the other for clearance.