K

kcameron

Well Known Member
I got most of my RV7 rudder rivetted last night. Per instructions, I drilled and clecoed the trailing edge into a piece of aluminum angle. I've decided to go the route of using proseal to lock the trailing edge into a straight line before rivetting. I was setting up to do that when I had the thought: "what if the proseal sticks to the clecos and I can't get them out?". Also: "what if some proseal leaks out and glues my rudder to the angle?"

Am I worrying about nothing or is there something I can do to prevent the problem?

Thanks,

Kev
 
Don't worry, you'll be able to pull the clecos out and the angle off. You can clean the clecos off with acetone or something similar then oil them slightly and they're good as new.
Bruce
RV9 F/W FWD
 
I wasted -- and I mean WASTED -- a LOT of time cleaning clecos in the building of my first fuel tank. In the second one, I just said "screw it" and left the stuff on and I'm pretty glad I did.

Once the stuff dries on a cleco, you can just pull the stuff off lickety split. But what's cool is a little bit on the underside of the shaft is like those plastic cleco boots that some of the supply houses sell to prevent marring of the skins etc.

And, boy, is wiping down 100 clecos with MEK and paper towels a pain in the neck.
 
Kevin,

Bonding the rudder and AEX wedge together doesn't require a lot of Proseal. Remember, all you're trying to do is keep everything stuck together and aligned while you rivet. Excess Proseal lumped in there just makes it harder to get a nice smooth trailing edge.

I used a relatively thin layer between rivet holes on both sides of the the wedge, and that worked out just fine. There wasn't much excess to clean up, the rudder didn't stick to the AL angle, and I didn't have to sacrifice any clecos.

Hope this helps...

Dave
 
After my "glueing" the wedge in there I did two things immediately to help minimize the problems you mention.

1. I took each cleco in and out at least once and wiped off the residue.

2. I took all the clecos out at once and wiped off the bottom skin and alum. angle before clecoing it back together.

Collectively, these two steps got rid of most of the excess proseal that might have caused me trouble. I had no troubles getting the angle off, and actually, the proseal will come right off with either MEK or lacquer thinner even after it cures (so long as it has not cured for a long time--in my case, that was 5 winter days where the garage stayed about 50-55 degrees).

Regardless, you shouldn't have too much trouble.

Good luck.
 
Thanks

I just glued and clecoed my trailing edge. As you guys said, it's a much smaller deal than I was making of it. I used the proseal sparingly and carefully pressed between the clecoes to squeeze out as much as I could. The pressing resulted in just a few little drops coming out along the trailing edge. I wiped them up with a naptha-soaked rag and I'm confident in a good result.

Thanks for all the good advice.

Kev
 
They'll come off, don't worry

My clecos got a little sticky from the Pro-Seal, but they still work. I even used clecos while bonding aluminum strips into my fiberglass tips...they got sticky, but they still work.
 
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