S

SteveK

I'm New Here
I am primarily using the gun and a bucking bar to set most rivets on my HS and VS. In the process, the gun has slipped a couple of times. Of course it has left smile dents on the pieces. I am unable to completely remove the smiles/dents by sanding and polishing, do I have to buy replacement pieces?

-Steve
 
I have no protective guard around the cupped AN470 gun fitting, which is what I allowed to cause the damage.
 
The "smileys" are cosmetic only. You can fill them when ready to paint. If you plan to polish, it's your choice.
 
SteveK said:
I am primarily using the gun and a bucking bar to set most rivets on my HS and VS. In the process, the gun has slipped a couple of times. Of course it has left smile dents on the pieces. I am unable to completely remove the smiles/dents by sanding and polishing, do I have to buy replacement pieces?

-Steve
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For 470's, the Avery Snap Socs should eliminate set slipping off the rivet head. Some people put a piece of masking tape on the rivet head that supposedly also helps keep the set from slipping. For what it's worth, I've NEVER had a smiley while using the Snap Socs. Good luck.
 
I found that if you keep pressure on the rivet head until you have fully released the trigger and the gun has definitely stopped you minimize the risk of "smiles" and "dents". If you start to move the gun off the rivet head as you release the trigger you often get one last stray "strike" that lands off target.

Jim Sharkey
 
Smiley faces, dents, divots, craters and crevasses

That's why God invented Bondo and Super Fill.
IMHO when doing cosmetic work don't use anything on your airplane that comes in a tube.
 
I found that for the 470's a long, heavy rivet set works much better than a short one. I think the mass keeps it from bouncing as much. So I use my 10(?) inch set whenever possible and the short one only when I have to.
 
You can find pass/fail criteria for driven rivets in Section 4 of MIL-R-47196A(MI) MILITARY SPECIFICATION - RIVETS, BUCK TYPE, PREPARATION FOR AND INSTALLATION OF. You need to think like a lawyer to interpret it, but it provides clear pass/fail criteria if you dig deep enough.

Up here in Canada, a piece of hockey shin pad tape on the rivet set cup does wonders to keep it from bouncing off the AN470 rivet manufactured head. It also keeps the rivet set from marring the rivet head. Good luck finding that stuff in Virginia Beach though.
 
smileys

I started out the same way. In particular the mushroom set. The slick face of that set along with the smooth working surface and that swivel-head mushroom set was all over the place. Then I got wind of the idea of putting a piece of masking tape on the set and on the rivets.I tried the mushroom set with the rubber sleeve and found that I had to apply a LOT of pressure to get the flush rivets flush. You may find that you will have to change the tape regularly as it will disintegrate after a short period of riveting.

Another really big thing that helped was making sure that the gun was as close to perfectly perpendicular to the riveting surface as possible - take your time. Thank goodness most of my smileys are on the bottom of the HS. Building a -9 puts these things real close to the ground - virtually hidden from the naked (or clothed) eye!
 
APACHE 56 said:
That's why God invented Bondo ...
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Do not use bondo.

What you want is Aerodynamic Dent Filler. It has aluminum in it and it expands and contats at close to the same rate as the aluminum.

Check Aircraft Spruce, part # 80000-328, $37.75.
 
springcanyon said:
Geico266 said:
Welcome to VAF Steve.

Just do the best you can to remove the dents to a flush ot slightly below flush and fill them when you paint. Super Fill is a great product.

How does Super Fill sand as opposed to, say, Bondo?

Thanks,
Don Owens
Click to expand...

It sands very easily. Hold off on filling until you are done with your airplane. A few smiley's here or there will get lost in the rest of your work. Besides, they add character!
If you really want to fill those minor dents, make sure you scratch the hexx out of it in prep so you get a good mechanical bond.
Click to expand...
 
Another suggestion...

The most important thing when riveting is to insure that your work is held very firmly so it will not move or bounce, then follow previous suggestions of keeping the gun square to the work and not moving off the pressure until your are fully off the trigger. Hold the gun firmly with frim pressure on the work. Hold the bucking bar more gently just insuring that it will not slip off the shop head and ding from behind. A "bouncing" bucking bar will set a rivet more quickly.
 
I didn't learn this technique until very far along on the project, but using the index finger on the trigger is (according to some people) less desireable than using the 2nd or 3rd finger. That allows you to put the heel of your hand on the back of the gun, thus really giving you some pressure straight downward in line with the set and the rivet. I've tried it, and like it, but the only problem is that near the end of the second plane I've done riveting on, it's hard for me to get used to it.

Oh, and the masking tape on the 470 sets? Works like a charm...won't totally prevent smileys, but helps, and it keeps the factory heads on the universal head rivets looking like brand new.
 
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