Often, when you are building an airplane, it is useful to know when to use the wrong tool, in the wrong manner to produce useful results.
In my shop, we utilize what we affectionately call the kamikaze dimpler. A male dimple die set in the rivet gun, backed up by the female in a dolly (Walt?). I say "we" because this is a two person operation on opposite sides of a large structure and catastrophically produces a "failure" mark if the alignment isn't perfect on both sides. I know that Mel likes the little pop rivet type dimple dies, but that just doesn't work for me.
Further, I've been told each and every time by the only kamikaze dimple partner that I would trust, that this is a very stressful operation
. I don't know what the problem is, just do it right the first time. So, given that she vacuumed, mopped the floor, and wiped down every shop surface with a damp rag on Valentines day weekend (was that some kind of sign?), I was feeling the need to find a way to do my part.
There is a current need to do some kamikaze dimpling. I'm going to have to break that news to my partner, but how to ease the pain? Maybe I could solve the problem of ease of alignment. Putting around the shop I spied a standard drill bushing holder, sometimes called an egg. Hmm, maybe put the rivet set that holds the dimple set in there... The length is right but it is just a bit too big. Ooh, we can fix that! (Insert excitement to get to use big tools.)
So, I look at the lathe with the set shank in my hand. The lathe is currently setup for collet use. Over to the collet index, darn, no joy. I knew I should have spent another few hundred dollars on more collets. Hmm, there is no way I'm setting up the mac-daddy chuck on the lathe for this little unimportant task that should take no more than 60 seconds in my shop. The mill currently has a standard drill chuck in it that would be sufficient. I grabbed a quick change tool holder that was already loaded with a turning tool and clamped it in the vice and setup the quill power feed. Chucked up the part, turned on the rotary phase converter, turned on the mill, and started cutting. I made two very light passes to get the diameter that I needed with plenty of time while the power feed was doing it's thing to take pictures. Don't mind the atrocity of the file laying on the mill table, or the fact that I'm abusing a very expensive drill chuck. This is not a sterile environment
. All about getting stuff done.
Ta-Da! A kamikazi dimple jig for the rivet gun side. I wonder what tools I can abuse next.
Wrong tool, wrong process
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