[Eztroller]

I am in need of ideas from you slow builders.... I am on section 26, ready to begin riveting the center lower section to the seat ribs, etc.... for the most part, I am alone. I can occasionally get a second set of hands, but want to minimize this individuals time spent in my COLD garage

Ideas....?

 

[avatty]

Hi, I am in the same boat as you (first-time builder, solo riveter due to pandemic), and worked through section 26 in April-May. This is where you learn to back-rivet if, like me, you avoided it to this point. You will need a 12-inch back rivet set to reach many of the rivets. Some of the builder sites have good photos of the process.

This was a slow and painstaking process, at least for me, but I learned a new riveting skill that is useful for a lot of the lower fuselage and in general.

From what I learned:

Always (always!) ensure the manufactured head of the rivet you are setting is fully flush with the back riveting plate. There is a subtle curvature to the lower skin, so you will have to rebrace things every few rivets. A set of flat feeler gauges is helpful where you can use them.

Initially, at least, set the rivets incrementally, since it's a lot easier to drill them out if they start capsizing (because the rivet set wasn't straight) or setting proud (because the skin was not flush with the plate).

I used two workbenches in order to reposition the piece over the gap as required to allow drill-outs.

Don't mean to bombard you with detail, I still have a bit of PTSD from the experience.

 

[mturnerb]

If your second set hands is inexperienced this tool comes in handy for backriveting the fuselage while it's up on its side:

https://www.cleavelandtool.com/coll...k-riveting-bucking-bar?variant=18378216800318

All the helper has to do is hold the bar flat on the skin over the rivet being set.

 

[jeffw@sc47]

an oversized back-rivet plate and table

I did most of the riveting on my 14A by myself. Had help with the wing's lower skins and a hundred or-so rivets on the belly - connecting the rear fuselage empennage to the cabin area fuselage.

For the rear fuselage empennage I built a 'large' table (about 28"W x 120"L) covered with 1/4" thick carpet tiles and mounted a 16"W x 24"L x 1/4" thick cold roller steel plate on the table surface in a cutout in the carpet tiles.

I was able to do all of the riveting of the rear fuselage empennage myself, by back-riveting the skins to the longerons and fuselage ribs. Rolling the emp around on the table.

A small issue I found was that when the fuselage was rotated on its longitudinal axis on the table and I was back-riveting the side fuselage rivets near the center of length of the fuselage - the two ends of the fuselage supported on the table - that sometime there was a small gap between the steel back plate and the rivet being set. My solution was to fabricate a couple of different thickness steel flat shims (2"W x 5"L x 1/32"T, 1/16"T, 3/32"T)+/- to fill the gap between the riveting back plate and the rivet head.

I did not delve into trying to figure out why the sides of the fuselage had this gap between the table back-plate - that's just the fact. That did not ever manifest itself in any other issue and the plane is almost finished, painted - nothing out of line can be discerned along the sides of the fuselage - all is good.

 

[rmartyna]

Straight handle rivet gun

Quick question, has anyone used a straight handle rivet gun? I'm considering a slow build RV14 and I'm wondering if it would be easier to use if riveting solo? Or would a pistol grip be better? Just curious. I'm busy assembling my shop and tools right now.

 

[Eztroller]

Thank you all for the advice. I looked through several of your build logs and came up with my “ best version” of them. Wife helped with the flat (large) back riveting bar, while I went at the other side with the 12” back riveting bar, held up length wise on my work bench. The dog even help some.... Appreciate the help once again.