A

Allan Stern

Well Known Member
I for the most part must build by myself as I do not have access to all that much help. I am building an RV 8A QB and and getting ready to rivet the bottom skin. The question I have is has anyone installed the skin with cherry max pop rivets? That would eliminate having to roll the skin and try to reach those very hard troublesome areas below the skin. And trying that by myself is not something I relish. However, I could do it myself and since it is on the bottom, no one would see.

Or I could use the cherry max where it is hard to reach and in those areas I can I could use the solid rivets. So there would be a mix.

Ideas? Comments? Suggestions?

Allan Stern RV 6A My Girl flying
RV 8A QB building
 
NOOOO!

Don't do it,

Even if you can get the right edge distance with the larger rivets etc, why would you want to?

This is "spoiling the ship all for a half penny's worth of tar"..Old English term.

Think of what a future prospective buyer will make of it..Don't do it.

Ok it took me and my buddy about 6 hours to rivet both skins...If you have to hire an A&P for the 6 hours or have someone come over and take them to dinner afterwards..

But do it right..my 2 cents

Frank
7a IO360
 
1) Fit your brains out.
2) Cleco one end and parallel the spars as far as you can and still reach the ribwise row of rivets. roll the skin about 90 deg. so it sticks up and tape/block it in place somehow.
3) Practice riveting at arms length like some stupid seal clapping.
4) Rivet the end and down the sides while walking your clecos and your 90 deg. bend as you go.

That's the only way I know to do it alone. It's not slower, just be careful with your big bend and don't rivet if the clecos aren't flat.
 
Did it by myself...

I riveted the bottom skins on both wings by myself - every rivet. The toughest ones were the aft section where the inboard ribs are close together (I have 'thick' arms :)
I put the wing on the ground (on a rug) and laid on the LE to reach back to the rear spar rivets. I put a towel over the edge of the skin to keep from decapitating myself :eek:
There are a few dozen rivets that are really tough. The rest get a lot easier.
 
I just finished my bottom right wing skin today, it took 3 hours and only one drilled out rivet. I did the bucking and I taught a 67 year old how to handle the gun in about 5 minutes. He was great, but a homeless person can easily be trained to do this in no time. Please don't do the pop or cherries, you will regret it in the long run. 3/32 rivet are almost a pleasure to drive. The guy down the street is an AP and he just finished doing the bottom two panels on an RV 9 and drove every rivet by himself. He used duct tape to hold the skin back and did it vertically in a wing rack. Just take you time and the hard rivets and learn the technique
 
DIY, it's what separates the men from the boys !!

I used solid rivets only on the wing and bucked them myself. Even where the plans called for pop rivets on the rear spar, I used solid, but did need some help for a few of them.

About a hundred yards from my hangar is a business call Aircraft Repairs Unlimited, and their main business is wing and control surface repairs. Sometimes Albert (the owner) needs a hand to buck a few rivets, so I help him. I've seen him buck rivets that I thought could never be bucked.
The secret is mainly in the bucking bar that's used. I've even machined him a special bar just to buck one rivet, even though he could have used a cherry max.
It's sort of professional pride.

If I remember correctly, when I installed the bottom skins, it was easier to do the initial rivets with the wing vertical (on cradles I borrowed from Albert).
Then I put the wing on horses when the angles became too difficult.
I'm sure you have lots of little boxes around to use such as I did.
Happy bucking
Jack

By USCANAM

By USCANAM

By USCANAM
P.S.
On the second picture, those are NOT dents in the skin, just some weird reflections...honest!!
Also, if I remember correctly, I would do about 2 rivets on each rib as I moved along, then would re-adjust the boxes. Finally, got the last ones through the inspection holes.
 
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You don't need Cherry Max.

Allan, I have to agree with the other posts. Driving these rivets by yourself is not all that hard.
However, if you DO decide to use pulled rivets, you don't need to use Cherry Max. MK-319-BS rivets are perfectly acceptable (and MUCH cheaper).
 
Allan,

Put out a call to your local EAA chapter and I'm sure you will have more help than you can deal with. Probably good help too.

FWIW, My wife and I pounded all the bottom rivets with the wings in the cradle. I sat on a creeper with cup fulls of rivets and my collection of bucking bars so I could scoot along the floor as Nora shot.

 
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