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Fuse riveting question

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Flying Scotsman

Well Known Member
My fuselage kit will be here sometime next month. Yay! Sooo...how much of the fuse assembly (riveting) requires two people? I'm trying to plan ahead a bit and figure out how to go about this. Are there significant pieces that can be done solo?
 
95% can be single person, the rest is scattered around at widely separate times.

For the tail cone, backrivet. It's fairly easy to hold a significant flat bucking bar against the skin, and reach over the top edge with an extended (12") back rivet set. Near the center, lay the assembly atop your table-top back rivet plate. Two people make it easier, but beware that it's a springy assembly and not readily clamped so getting proud heads is more likely than when rested on a table and back riveted.

Center section is mostly one person.

Forward lower often requires two when reaching towards the floor over the top edge.

John Siebold
 
Fuse Assembly...

In addition to what has already been mentioned, you also need 2 people for a bunch of rivets at the tail cone and center section joint (along the bottom).
I found that I could get things to the point where when I needed help, I would know in advance enough that getting someone was not a big problem, and you generally need them for an hour at the most - 2 hrs with BS time included :cool:
I also had plenty of other stuff to do, so even if I had to wait a day for help, it really didn't slow me down.
 
Thanks, guys! That eases my mind a bit...was worried that there would be a ton of riveting that required two people, but that sounds like its not the case (and there are some very generous builders in the local area, I'm finding out...).
 
Steve,

Sometimes you have to get creative. I stood my bottom skin up on the edge of a table and used shot bags on the spar to hold the skin vertically. This allowed me to rivet most of it. I needed some help for the very middle sections.

Check with your EAA and local RV group. I found lots of help from both groups when it came time to rivet. BTW, IMHO it is easier to teach someone how to rivet than buck. Unless you are back riveting, then have the newbie back rivet.
 
I'm leery of riveting some of the flush rivets by myself, as those were the only times I truly banged something up beyond repair. The universal head rivets I haven't had much trouble with, but it's probably because the parts are more accessible (doubler to rear spar, e.g.) and I can get a good solid 90 degree angle on both the bar and the rivet gun. But I've found that for the flush rivets, I don't have much luck doing them alone...I like having my left hand free to hold the rubber around the set firmly to keep it from moving around, which then means I need a third arm to hold the bucking bar.

Now, if I only had a third arm, I'd be all set! :)

Maybe I just need a lesson from someone who has done more of it than I have to show me the best way to do that.
 
Flush rivets

I found these things helped a LOT when I was flush riveting:
- keep the pressure low (40-50 psi)
- I did not use a rubber guard - just a 'bare' swivel head flush set. I had tried both and, for me anyway, the bare set won hands down.
To prevent walking, I found it much more important to make sure the gun was as square as possible to the surface and NOT push hard on the rivet with the gun. Use your energy to keep it square, let the gun do the riveting.
 
Flying Scotsman said:
My fuselage kit will be here sometime next month. Yay! Sooo...how much of the fuse assembly (riveting) requires two people? I'm trying to plan ahead a bit and figure out how to go about this. Are there significant pieces that can be done solo?
Click to expand...

when u get ready, just put me on a plane and fly me in... we'll get it knocked out in no time! :D
 
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