Newbie question: Extra rivets?

Just started doing some practice projects to learn riveting and, lo and behold, I made a few mistakes and got to practice drilling out some rivets. Which makes me wonder: Do Van's kits come with some extra rivets and other fasteners, or do we typically order extras to accommodate re-doing mistakes? What are the most common types/sizes of rivets that you'd keep on hand as extras for an RV-7 build?

Ryan

Draker said:

Just started doing some practice projects to learn riveting and, lo and behold, I made a few mistakes and got to practice drilling out some rivets. Which makes me wonder: Do Van's kits come with some extra rivets and other fasteners, or do we typically order extras to accommodate re-doing mistakes? What are the most common types/sizes of rivets that you'd keep on hand as extras for an RV-7 build?

Ryan

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Van supplies more than enough extra rivets in the kit that you will not need to buy extra. IF you do need extra rivets, Van's will sell them to you in 0.1 pound increments at a very reasonable price. No extra bolts come with the kits. When I need a bolt, I typically buy 2, 10, or a box if it is something that I know I will be going through a lot of them.

Rivets are dirt cheap. Order a variety after you start so you know what sizes to get.

You will also find Van's tends to call out skin rivets that are a half a size too small. You will need to get perhaps 0.2 pounds of AN426AD3-4 and AN426AD3-4.5 rivets. You will have bags of AN426AD3-3.5 left over from the kit so don't buy any of those.

As you get into the kit you will probably order 0.1 pounds of other rivet sizes from time to time.

Carl
RV-8A (sold)
RV-10 (sold yesterday - still in shock)
RV-8 (tail kit in progress)

extra rivets

Most of time you will receive much more than you need but there was a few cases for me I wanted to use a size of rivet that I received few of so I did order more of them either from Van's or Aircraft Spruce.

I'm a truck driver by trade so I had to learn everything from how to rivet to bending the aluminum.

I made mistakes and had to order more parts to replace the ones I destroyed.

It takes patience and practice, you can do it...

Consider getting some "oops" rivets, especially the 3/32 size. They're great for attaching nutplates since the small head allows you to easily countersink the more common aluminum thicknesses on our RVs.

Dave

You will have plenty of rivets. I still have probably thousands left. And if you were to run low you would know well before you ran out and could order more. They're about the cheapest thing you'll ever buy for the plane, anyways! You will probably end up buying some 'oops' rivets as well as some soft rivets, however. The oops rivets have a standard size head and oversize shank, for when you enlarge a hole removing a rivet. The soft rivets are used on fiberglass.

There are usually some extra AN bolts and nuts/washers, but I ended up buying an extra assortment of many of the most common sizes. Also, when I ended up having to use an extra AN bolt, I just made note of the size and added some to my next order.

Chris

Thanks a lot for the replies. Consensus seems to be just get the kit and I'll be fine, order new rivets only as needed. Thanks!

Learning to rivet takes lots of practice. I've probably set a few thousand by now and I still have trouble sometimes and mess one up. Ive had to drill out a few too. I've gotten much better at removing them. The problem riveting is there are lots of different methods required in different situations. Like having go run the gun with your left hand for example.

If you don't have one already buy a rivet length gaugeso you can make sure you have the right length rivet installed. Too long of a rivet will bend easier and too short of a rivet and you won't have enough material to make a proper head.

The special blind or pull rivets that Van's provides for things like the fuel tanks are just enough, so don't waste any of these on practice. Same story with some of the longer rivets. I ordered lots of extras whenever I had enough stuff to buy to justify shipping charges. You'll have plenty of the normal sized rivets left over from the build.

Extra rivets

No. Vans supplies the exact number of every single part including rivets so make sure you count every one when you inventory and don't make any mistakes!

wirejock said:

No. Vans supplies the exact number of every single part including rivets so make sure you count every one when you inventory and don't make any mistakes!

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Now, Larry, that's just mean.... ;-)