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Most used Yoke

Fenderbean

Fenderbean

Well Known Member
I searched this and thought it light up the board but nothing showed.
On the 10 if you use a regular pneumatic squeezer and a Numatx which yokes should you get. I guess which is a must have and what length/style will you use the most?
Thanks, pre order thoughts
 
I think most people use whatever they happen to have! With yokes costing about $150 each, very few people try a different yoke unless they are at a friends shop or an EAA workshop. So they make do with what they have, and maybe lust after that longeron yoke. So the answer to your very reasonable question is tainted because people only know what they know…..

Now to answer your question from my perspective - we own three hand-held squeezer yokes - a 2” No Hole, a Longeron, and a 4” long-reach (In addition, we have bench-mounted yokes that have 12” and 26” reach, as well as a spar squeezer that is GREAT for small parts assembly - but you probably won’t have those). We get by with what we have, but I wish I had a longeron with a deeper reach, and a four-in No Hole with a narrow flat end for the occasional nutplate rivet. But we’ve built quite a few airplanes with what we’ve got….
 
I use the longeron and 3" equally.. some places I also have a 5" - its utility is limited as it does flex, so you practically have the dies touching for a propper squeeze.

What I don't have is a thin nose and have occasionally wish I had. I do have a set of these from HF - also more expensive available elsewhere - that i've ground down to use in really tight places. They're able to squeeze an426ad3's fine in a pinch. https://www.harborfreight.com/10-in-pliers-wrench-58200.html
 
I almost always use whatever yoke is already on there since both of my primary yokes work in most situations. But if I had to pick my number one it would be the 2.5" Flange-Nose yoke. My number two is the 3" Yoke. Of course those are the only two I had for most of my build.

I have since added two specialty yokes, specifically the 1" thin-nose and 4" thin-nose. I don't use them often but once in a while they have helped in a tough situation. Those don't accept a die on the nose end so they can't be used for dimpling.
 
I have these in order of versatility:
Longeron, 2.5" regular, 1" regular and 4" thin nose. All have been ground/modified to fit certain situations. The 12 would have been easier for me if I had had a 3" regular as well.

A longeron yoke can for the most part be imitated by using a long set in a regular yoke.

All of my yokes are interchangeable with my hand and pneumatic squeezers.
 
Thanks, need to look up “longeron yoke” I have the typical air squeezer but was planning to get a Numatx so I thought of getting a different yoke for it.
 
I have all of them, I use the lightest one for the job, since I have a choice. Don’t pick up a 4” yoke when a 1” will do the job .
 
kirkbauer said:
I'm pretty sure that is what they are calling the "2.5" Flange-Nose" yoke.
Click to expand...
I am pretty sure that most of us call it a Longeron Yoke. Cleaveland Tool seems to be one of the exceptions to that. Search their site for Longeron Yoke and it brings you to the same item.
 
I know this doesn’t answer your primary question, but I will just add that I have both a manual and pneumatic squeezer with different size/type yokes on each. I use the numatic most of the time, but there are times when I prefer the manual. This is mostly the case with some of the more delicate riveting like a trailing edge, or when pre squeezing a rivet just a bit for making an oops rivet.
 
Newbies can benefit from using the shortest yoke to do the job. Less flex, fewer “hang nails”, less effort etc….
This is less of an issue for the more experienced folks….
 
Thanks for the info guys, seems I have the longeron one some I might get the 2.5 or 3 with the numatx squeezer if I get one. Need to check around and see if one of the builders here in huntsville would be willing to share.
 
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