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Rivets are deforming bulkheads!

s10sakota

Well Known Member
Anybody know why this is happening? When I squeeze the rivets on the fuselage bulkheads, it's deforming the bulkheads. In fact, it was so bad on the F-705 bulkhead that I've scrapped all three lower pieces and re-ordered new ones.

Now as I'm riveting the second bulkhead, I squeezed two rivets and then noticed it's doing it again.

I'm clearly not over-squeezing them, but I'm not sure how to keep the bulkheads from deforming when I rivet them.

Here's two of the two rivets I just tried installing pics...





Do you see how when I squeeze the rivet it's pulling the bulkheads apart? I will drill these two out and straighten the bulkheads, but I don't know what to do differently with the new rivets!

Help!!
 
The rivets are swelling between skins. Clamp the flange as close to the rivet as you can before you squeeze. This should keep this from happening.
 
I've used short lengths of back fuel line, about the length of the exposed rivet tang, to press the flange down while riveting. Works very well.

Dave
 
Yep, keep your parts clamped firmly together during riveting and this won't be a problem.
 
Backset

Wouldn't a backset do the same thing? You'll probably need a rivet backset for other parts of your build, and this might be the place to start. A backset has a collar that is spring loaded, so it will put good pressure on the parts, to close that gap. There might be a video in Hints for Homebuilders on the EAA site that will show you what I can't easily describe.

Of course this may not be appropriate for a round head rivet. :eek:
 
Yes, a back riveting set does the same kind of thing but I don't think I've seen one that would fit in a squeezer. I've generally found this to happen when the squeezer puts a side-load on the rivet and/or work. For example, if I'm trying to hold the work in one hand and operate the squeezer with the other hand, it is almost impossible to keep everything aligned. I get good results with a second pair of hands or putting the work in a vice so I can use both hands with the squeezer. If it feels like you need three hands, you probably do. The alternative is the rigidly mounted squeezer that you can use two hands to feed the work into. In either case, both the work and the tool need to be stable and aligned properly with each other.
 
Update

I went to Lowe's today and bought a rubber grommet to use while setting the rivets. Worked like a charm! Thanks for the suggestions; another reason why this forum is invaluable.

Here's an updated pic...

 
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