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shanecfi

Active Member
We recently started on the Vertical Stabilizer to our RV-14a. I riveted the substructure together and I am having trouble setting some rivets in the Forward Spar # 803pp and the two bottom Ribs #'s 704 and 705. I keep rolling over the center rivet. Three rivets here by the way. I took the assemble to my local EAA meeting and they didn't seem overly concerned. They did recommended that I replace a few rivets, namely the one I mentioned above, and had good advice on some tooling that has arrived.

I have a 3" Yoke and 2.5" Longeron Yoke and a 4" Thin Nose Yoke. Also equipment to buck rivets. I have tried the pneumatic squeezer and bucking it with the offset set. The ribs flanges are keeping me from getting square to the rivet. It keeps rolling over. It is apparently beyond my newbie skill level. After now having drilled out the rivet for a fourth time, I am very frustrated. The hole is now about 5/32. I think the hole was made bigger on the first drill out. At least I can drill out rivets much better now without making the hole any bigger. It seems to me the size of the hole is the problem now, no lateral support on the rivet now as I buck it. It just swims in the hole.

My question is now, do I buy new parts? Use a bigger rivet? Or is some sort of bolt permissible? I am sure my edge distances are getting close too.

I am trying to post a picture, but that too is apparently beyond my skills as well!:) Many thanks in advance.
 
I reviewed the empennage instructions about the forward spar and bracket/rib connections.

It may be that the yokes that you say you may using are hitting the flanges of the spar during the squeeze. Try using a 2.5" Flange-Nose Yoke, that can reach over the flange to squeeze the rivet without hitting the flanges, which might be the problem. PLUS, you will use this yoke many times again.

SIDEBAR: Where are you? Your profile says City/State = MACEDONIA? As in bordering Greece, Albania, and Bulgaria?
 
Riveting

I will look for that yoke as well. The Longeron one I have did not quite each. I am in Macedonia, Ohio 44056. Not so exotic:)

Thanks for the input guys!
 
When I have to drill out a rivet I check how much the hole has enlarged with the new rivet. If it can move around laterally I take a rivet and pre squeeze it in my rivet squeezer to fatten it up a bit. It some times takes a rivet or two as sometimes they don't squeeze straight. I have found you get better results if the plunger moves less so the opposite side I put in a longer squeezer bit. Sometimes I also take the dimple dies and re dimple holes that have dimples to make sure its straight.

Lastly I found some rubber grommets at Home Depot that I put around the shop head side to stabilize the rivet when I start on it. My favorite one kind of looks like an H on its side if you look at it from the side. The hole would go through the cross part of the H. This also helps hold sheet metal closer together as you start a rivet.

Pete
 
consider a cherry max rivet

I wish I had used more of them. If properly sized, they are just as strong. If your hole is already a little big, its probably still small for a #3 pop rivet. Enlarge the hole, dimple and pop.
 
jeffw@sc47 said:
Try using a 2.5" Flange-Nose Yoke, that can reach over the flange to squeeze the rivet without hitting the flanges, which might be the problem. PLUS, you will use this yoke many times again.
Click to expand...

I will be starting on my RV-14 build in the next few months (QB project yet to be moved from TX to IN). It appears to me that the flange-nose yoke would be very useful. However, Cleaveland describes it as being for their pneumatic squeezer and I don't plan, yet anyway, on buying one of those. Is there one that will fit a hand squeezer? Don't know yet which one I'll be getting. Most of my tools will be coming from a friend who is just finishing his -7A.
 
SabreFlyr said:
I will be starting on my RV-14 build in the next few months (QB project yet to be moved from TX to IN). It appears to me that the flange-nose yoke would be very useful. However, Cleaveland describes it as being for their pneumatic squeezer and I don't plan, yet anyway, on buying one of those. Is there one that will fit a hand squeezer? Don't know yet which one I'll be getting. Most of my tools will be coming from a friend who is just finishing his -7A.
Click to expand...

Ray,
The mounting holes are universal at least for the tools that the vendors sell to RV builders. So those yokes have holes that make them usable with Pneumatic, Hand, etc squeezers.

I have a 3" regular and a Longeron (Flange nose) 2.5 " and those have been very useful. On rare occasion it would be nice to have the no hole yoke but so far I have been able to compensate with other techniques.
 
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