[rapid_ascent]

This is a really basic question, but I'm a newby so I hope you all won't beat me up too badly. I bought one of the Vans training kits, and I've also bought a piece meal minimal set of tools to build the kit. I bought a used hand squeezer from the Yard Store for a really good deal, well maybe.

Here's my problem. The yoke that came with the squeezer has a pretty wide opening so I have to unscrew the ram pretty far to use the sets that I have. When I go to squeeze the rivet the ram seems to colapse under pressure so it doesn't actually squeeze the rivet. It seems to me that the squeezer is defective, but I just don't know enough at this point to be sure.

Any comments would be helpful.

 

[roee]

Ray,

We don't beat up on newbies here. We let you acclimate a bit first.

I'm not sure what you mean exactly by the ram collapsing. A more detailed description, or maybe a photo might help.

Anyway, I see you're also in San Diego, so if you want you could bring it by and I'll take a look. My email is roee at kalinskyconsulting dot com.

-Roee

 

[Geico266]

Newbie's get a pass for a few hours. Then again, these guys beat me up all the time!

The squeezer should not "collapse", you should be able to control the squeeze all the way though the stroke.

You might want to hang around an EAA chapter for a while and see of there are guys working on planes that can watch over their shoulder. It is daunting to try and pick up a skill by picking up the tool and trying it without having had some instruction.

 

[Sid Lambert]

If you unscrew the ram too far you will not have enough threads to support the load and it will just pop down a few threads when you squeeze.

Unscrew the ram completely and check the treads on the male and female parts. If they look gnarly then use a tap and die to clean them up.

If this is the case you will need to by a longer "bit" to go in the ram so you don't have to unscrew it so far. You may want to consider a smaller opening yoke as large or long yokes have more of a tendency to set the rivet a little crooked.

 

[rapid_ascent]

Thanks for all the comments.

Roee, I guess I need to update my info. I'm now in Dublin, but thanks for the offer.

If you unscrew the ram too far you will not have enough threads to support the load and it will just pop down a few threads when you squeeze.

Sid, I suspect this is what's happening. I'll take it apart and take a look. I may have to buy either some taller sets if they are available.