W

wizard

Active Member
Hi all, I think I am having a problem with my flush rivet set. I am getting some marring of the surface. I know I need to keep the rivet set as stationary as possible, but get these marks even when I am pretty dang still. I have included a picture of my Rivet Set that shows marks (I bought it used and it came this way). Is this the marring normal? Is the Rivet Set the problem? Does my Rivet Set need to be polished to fix the problem?



 
Brian,

All you have to do is remove the rubber guard and polish the defects off the face of the set using your bench mounted Scotchbrite wheel.
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Seems pretty normal to me Brian. I've polished mine to a mirror finish before, and still get results like that. In fact, every rivet I've set has those markings from the flush set. I have ground the rubber down to match the face of the set too.

Your whole airplane will be completely scuffed up anyway before paint, so unless you are planning a polished finish, don't worry about it.

:)
 
If the marks bother you, just use a small piece of scotch removable tape over the rivet. I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about it though. You'll be polishing or painting over it anyway. Good luck.
 
Tape the skin and rivets.

Use Scotch 811 magic removable tape in either 1/2 or 3/4 wide.

Put the rivets in, put the tape over it, rivet, and remove the tape.

You can use short strips and use them several times.

Cheap and easy, but looks classy when your done. :)
 
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Just put some 2" wide masking tape over the face of the rivet set and cut it around the inner radius of the rubber stopper. It lasts a couple hundred rivets between needing to be changed.
 
I used to worry about that too. I tried putting electrical tape on the head, that works for a few rivets. Then I polished the head every 20 rivets or so with metal polish, which worked pretty well, but was a hastle.

What a waste. Now that I'm ready for paint and I know what theyare going to do to the bare aluminum (sand it!) I would not worry about it unless you intend to have polished aluminum surfaces.
 
Polish the face of the set with this..

.. guy I know did it and gets mirrors every time. The other posts are valid, it doesn't matter but he was pretty jazzed at the results he got anyway.

METALL

John
 
FWIW, I use electrical tape. Cheap, readily available, the glue doesn't dry up & stick the way masking tape does. It does often leave a little black dot on the rivet that comes off easily.

Dick Scott
RV-9A wings, working on flaps
 
The scuffs bothered me too so I use the clear packing tape. It lasts a while. I may not paint and it looks good up til then even if I do paint.
 
I've always done what Mike suggested. 1 or 2 layers of 2" masking tape on the set and cut out around the edge. Usually last two or three nights. No marks.
 
notice the rib line?

i found this to be caused from the shooter pushing to hard on the gun and the set not being centered after the first hit due to the flexing of the rib flange. when this happens it folds the rib some and concentrates the pressure on the web of the rib. my helper wanted to do this some and i had to beat him about the head and shoulders. :D if you can see the skin deflect much more than a touch when they apply pressure, then IMHO they are pushing to hard.

 
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Correct Tape #

GAHco said:
Use Scotch 847 magic removable tape in either 1/2 or 3/4 wide.

Put the rivets in, put the tape over it, rivet, and remove the tape.

You can use short strips and use them several times.

Cheap and easy, but looks classy when your done. :)
Click to expand...

Sorry :eek: it's #811 NOT 847, We used to stock it but people complained that they could have gotten from the stationary store. :rolleyes: and they still can.
 
flush rivet set problems

Hi, that super thin pure aluminum coating on the alloy is very soft and delicate. You can mar it by just rubbing your finger hard on it. (trust me, I know :eek:p )No matter what I do, I get a slight amount of scuffing reguardless of my mirror finish flush set. But it is a very minor thing to me. One must hold a light on the scuffing to see it clearly and it's only around the rivet head. I don't use the rubber collar. I figure that any scuffing of that thin 'alclad' isn't going to show through the paint job. To me, the 'alclad' coating is only for corrosion control during construction. If it scratches, I rub out the scratches with the scotchbrite and destroy the 'alclad' in the process, oh well, it gets primed very soon anyway. I hope my experience helps.
Fritz
 
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