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Rivet Set Marred/Scratched Skin -- WHY???

S

Stalldog

Well Known Member
Need some advice, please. When I began bucking the 426 rivets in the HS skin, the first five or six marred the surface slightly. Brand new swivel rivet set from Isham. I had the pressure set about 42 psig, but later learned it needed to be lower so I've been using 34 to 36 psig lately with good results.

These marks shouldn't make a hill of beans since I'm planning to have the plane painted, but why it happened has me puzzled. After driving the first two rivets I stopped and lightly buffed the rivet set face with a polishing compound, then tried it again, and same thing happened. Then, for who knows why, after about six or seven rivets the problem went away. I've posted pictures below.

If you've seen this before I would like to know what caused it in case it shows up again.

By the way, I have no idea if I've inserted the pictures right or not. The first is the marred skin, the second is several rivets later, probably 20 or so.

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/1754/dsc0051za.jpg

http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/2839/dsc0053pr.jpg
 
Jim,
Looks fine. Second one is better.
Get some Rivet tape at the Yard store if you
want. That will help. Use a rubber swivel head
on the gun that will help also.

Round marks are from dimpling.
 
Thanks, Bruce. Odd thing is I'm using the rubber swivel head. Of course, it seemed to mark where the head was hitting, so not sure the rubber did anything to prevent it. Again, what's really got me puzzled is why it stopped!
 
The flush rivet set is going to impart (scuff) some of its steel on the aluminum surface that you are hitting. My solution is to take some heavy duty clear packaging tape and cover the rivet heads as you go. A couple of square inches is all you need and you can pull it off and restick it as you go down the line. Think of it as poor man's rivet tape. The tape holds up well and keeps the rivet set from hitting the aluminum. For solo riveting, it also helps hold the rivet in place as you get the gun and bucking bar in place.
 
masking tape

I usually put a few layers of masking tape on the set.
 
Try 3M page tabs

thicker than tape

easier to remove than clear packing tape (because it rips)

very reusable.


The scratches/marring are not a big deal, but this will prevent it.
 
I actually use hockey sock tape to protect my snaps. It's the exact width of my flush set, thick enough that it lasts a long time, cheap (a buck a roll), and it's pliable enough that I even use it on my an470's. I dont even take the anodizing off of the shot head. It's of course very easy to find here in Canada, but Im sure you could find it in sports stores anywhere.
 
I use a little square of rivet tape, but I put it on the flush head instead of on the rivet. That way I don't have to peel it off and move it for each rivet. It will last quite a few rivets before it needs replacing.
 
Wow! I'm not being disparaging when I say that you guys go to a lot of extra trouble to prevent those marks. There's a certain sense of admiration for your effort. But the marks you get will either be removed by etch/primer or will easily polish out.
 
If it's important to you, get some rivet tape. It's not that expensive in the grand scheme of things and it outperforms the alternatives. You can use the same strip multiple times.
 
I just used pieces of the blue plastic as rivet tape. I also found that I did not like the rubber-footed set and just used a plain mushroom head for riveting.

Greg
 
If your plane will be painted ...

... The last thing you do before priming is to Scotchbrite the entire airplane. The only time to obcess about minor scuffing around the rivet is if you're headed for a polished airplane ... And even then the Nuvite will take that out too.
 
Still puzzled as to why the scratches occurred at first, then completely went away after six or seven rivets, and haven't returned. Maybe something about breaking in the rivet set. Wasn't sure if they would return or not, but not so far.
 
Third vote here for getting some rivet tape. The primary purpose of the rivet tape is to keep un-set rivets from falling out while setting other rivets. As a bonus it will prevent scratches. You will use the rivet tape many times throughout the build, so just get some with your next order. Real rivet tape works better that regular tape since the center portion has no adhesive so the tape doesn't get stuck to the head on 470 rivets. You can also removed the tape from a line of rivets without it taking all the un-set rivets with it.
 
debris

Jim,
I wonder if there was some debris lodged between the rubber boot and the set. When you started riveting the debris worked itself loose, marred the surface, but eventually it was all dislodged and now its fine. I dont have a set like that one, so I'm only theorizing.
 
Lemmingman said:
Jim,
I wonder if there was some debris lodged between the rubber boot and the set. When you started riveting the debris worked itself loose, marred the surface, but eventually it was all dislodged and now its fine. I dont have a set like that one, so I'm only theorizing.
Click to expand...

Something I hadn't considered, Gil, so I suppose it's possible. The head itself looked perfectly fine and polished, although it did have some marks after the first few rivets, so I don't know which was marking which, the set head or the rivet/skin. I guess it's also possible the head wore off a miniscule part of a rivet which caused the scratches, and it eventually wore off. Oh well, no sense beating a dead horse. Just wondered if this was common.

I've received lots of good advice here, though, and last night I did use the rivet dots and they did just fine. I'm using the rivet squeezer at this point and should finish the HS tonight, so on to the VS! :D
 
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