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seat rib nutplates

papamike

papamike

Well Known Member
How are you all dealing with attaching nutplates on thin material like the seat ribs? I know sometimes Van's likes dimpling nutplates, but I personally hate that idea. I tried countersinking a #40 hole in a test sample, and the hole enlarged and knife-edged.

I've thought about using screws instead of pop rivets for the baggage floors, and possibly under the seats. But if this is going to be a problem, I won't do that.

Thanks
 
NAS-1097-3-3

papamike said:
How are you all dealing with attaching nutplates on thin material like the seat ribs? I know sometimes Van's likes dimpling nutplates, but I personally hate that idea. I tried countersinking a #40 hole in a test sample, and the hole enlarged and knife-edged.

I've thought about using screws instead of pop rivets for the baggage floors, and possibly under the seats. But if this is going to be a problem, I won't do that.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Small head countersunk rivets - NAS-1097-3-3 - work well using a countersink in 0.025 material.

http://aircraftproducts.wicksaircraft.com/item/solid-rivets/nas1097-100-solid-rivet/nas1097ad3-3


Remember, the rivets only prevent rotation of the nutplate, so the reduced rivet head size is no big deal in this application.
 
+1 for Gil's comment. That's how I do all my nut plates now. Remember that in most of these sorts of situations, it's not structural and really you're just trying to hold the plate from turning.
 
you can also buy nutplates that has been dimpled already (for the rivet) - but if you already have the normal type - I agree with Gil ...

You can get them from Tom at [email protected]
 
Thanks Jan

I am taking a month to work on my RV6.

This should get it closer to the sky.
 
Hi Pete,

Have you actually tried dimpling a few nutplates, or is it just the idea that you don't like? I ask because I tried countersinking the first few spots & had terrible luck. I then took a shot at dimpling both the sheet & nutplate, and discovered that it makes the nutplate perfectly self-centering over (under?) the screw hole. When countersinking, I found that there's enough slop in the rivet holes that the nutplate would often end up slightly misaligned.

For me, dimpling both was a lot faster than countersinking the sheet, it was more accurate, and I didn't have to purchase stuff to replace stuff I'd already paid for.

FWIW,

Charlie
 
Dimpled both on my C-Frame. I have the dimpling pliers for places I can't get and of course you can always use the squeezers (pneumatic or hand). Dimple both, no issue.

Bob
 
Tom - Sounds like the perfect months holiday to me !! :) ... Just about to cut the last hole in the panel for the engine analyzer ...
 
Charlie,

It's just the mechanic in me. On the big stuff I work on, it's just a matter of drilling out and replacing a nutplate. If and when the need arises, I don't want to have to worry about dimpling the nutplate and so on...

I went ahead and got some 1097s of varying lengths to add to my collection.

Thanks
 
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