wirejock

wirejock

Well Known Member
Question.
When you preassemble for match drilling and fitting, do you cleco every hole, every other or some other number?

When you final assemble before rivets go in, same question?

Personally I cleco every other hole for preassembly then every hole to final rivet, but I'm wondering what others do.
 
For me, if there was a bend or curve, like the tail cone, every hole, long strait panels like the side skins, I did every third.
 
For smaller assemblies, every hole. For larger ones, too, every hole, at least until I'm absolutely certain that the fit is correct and that the parts are fitting well together. Then pull a cleco out, drive a rivet, repeat.

Dave
 
For the wings -- and I don't know what the process is now, but back then they hung from a vertical jig -- I clecoed every hole in the belief anything that could eliminate possibility of building in a twist was a good thing. In fact, when I was fitting skins of any kind, I also put one in every hole.

It was probably overkill and I have a heck of a lot of clecoes now with nothing to do.
 
When working on more complex assemblies, such as those with more parts, I think the more clecos the better. There is a term called "progressive tolerances" or something to that affect indicating the when you keep adding parts, and thus a sum of tolerances, you can find those parts difficult to fit. More parts equals a greater sum of tolerances so you want more clecos to keep those progressive tolerances at bay.
 
For matchdrilling I did every other hole just so I knew I could hit them all without missing one. Drill all the open holes, move the clecoes over one space, drill all the open holes - done.
 
LettersFromFlyoverCountry said:
For the wings -- and I don't know what the process is now, but back then they hung from a vertical jig -- I clecoed every hole in the belief anything that could eliminate possibility of building in a twist was a good thing. In fact, when I was fitting skins of any kind, I also put one in every hole.

It was probably overkill and I have a heck of a lot of clecoes now with nothing to do.
Click to expand...

When I built my -6A fuselage, I unclamped everything from the jig except the firewall after clecoing on the bottom skins (cleco in every hole). I could twist the tail about 10 degrees either direction. "The clecos, they do nothing!" This is why I was against jigless construction for a while; I have since discovered that it is not hard to rivet carefully and end up with true surfaces. However, do not rely on clecos to hold things in place for you or help eliminate oil-canning in your skins or anything like that. They are an aid but not a guarantee.
 
Cleco Runner Helps

I cleco every hole when assembling because I think it produces a better match-drilled end product. Then I drill with one hand and use a pneumatic cleco runner with the other. Makes for a nice steady operation.

http://www.panamericantool.com/novar-pneumatic-instalation-tool.html

This $60 jobber really helps the process and saves your hands from too much work with the pliers. However, I still have the RV Builder "handshake grip of death"... :D
 
I clecoed every hole most of the time, especially on big pieces like skins. I bought a pnuematic cleco tool from ACS because I was having pain from tennis elbow (both elbows) by the time I was finishing up my wings. If clecoing is causing pain, try one. It helped me continue building at perhaps a faster pace and the pain eventually went away:

DCP_2299.JPG
 
cleco excercise

Thanks everyone. I think the every hole method will continue. I actually prefer the manual as it excercises my hands. They get stiff and sore. Plus I kind like the cleco grip of death handshake. People can tell you're an airplane builder!
 
I did every other hole, regardless of what I was putting together.

For match drilling, I drilled every other hole then moved the clecos over one hole.

When it came time to rivet, I started in the middle and worked outward, moving the clecos as I went.

I have a friend who riveted every other hole, starting in the middle and moving outwards. He then removed the clecos and then riveted those holes. The plane flies just fine and that is probably what I would do the second time around.
 
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