Most used yoke for Pneumatic Rivet Squeezer?

[Calvin25]

I am placing orders for tools tonight, just about done.

What yoke or yokes should I get with the pneumatic rivet squeezer, they are expensive and don't want to shotgun the order too much ?

Building an 8 if that matters.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[carguy614]

Yokes

I used the 2 inch yoke that came with my squeezer quite often, but found the longeron yoke the most versatile. Seems like it stayed on the squeezer most of the time, and if I had to pick only one, I would say that would be it. An adjustable set is real nice as well. I found that the yokes that have been drilled and tapped for stationary use tend to flex a bit near the bolt holes. I would investigate getting yokes that are not drilled if you have no intention of mounting your squeezer in a frame. You can bolt a steel stiffener across the holes in the yoke to alleviate this issue, but that adds weight and bulk to the head.

Hope this helps....
Chris

 

[rleffler]

I'm building a RV-10, but I suspect that the RV-8 would require the same yolks.

I have the standard 3", a longeron, and a no-hole 4".

I use the standard 3" the most. It can get into areas where the longeron yolk can't fit.

You need the longeron to do anything that has a lip or flange. This one I use quite a bit too.

The no hole only uses one dimple die and allows you to get into tight places that the other two don't fit. The 4" also allows you to get into areas that are further away from the edge.

If I were to buy a 4th yolk, I would probably get a 2" no hole, since the 4" is large and heavy. But as you stated, they're expensive, so I make due with the these three. I also only use a pneumatic and don't have a hand squeezer.

 

[Jamie]

You need the longeron to do anything that has a lip or flange. This one I use quite a bit too.

Not really true. Yeah, the longeron yoke is good for that, but not necessary.

For what it's worth, I used this set in my 3 inch yoke and never, ever needed a longeron yoke. Yes, I riveted my longerons with that set too (most longeron rivets have to be bucked anyway because top skins overlap them). Many old school builders have no idea what a longeron yoke even is.

I built my entire slow-build -7A with that one 3 inch yoke. The *only* yoke I think may have been nice was the no hole yokes for setting rivets near the trailing edges of the control surfaces. Those yokes are ~ $130.00. If you count the flaps, ailerons and elevators and rudder and assume you need the yoke to set the last two rivets on each side (8 rivets per control surface), that means the yoke costs you $2.32 a rivet. You could also easily just leave those rivets out until you find a yoke you can borrow and then just set all of them at one time.

What about those rivets you can't reach with the 3 inch squeezer? You may just have to break out the rivet gun and bucking bar. Believe me, it won't kill you.

My recommendation is to start with the 3 inch yoke and you can always order the other ones.

 

[rv9aviator]

Ditto on the longeron yoke being used a bunch. I have a three inch yoke and wish I had bought a 4 inch yoke as well. The no hole yoke gets used some but when you need it you really need it.

 

[airguy]

I use the standard 3" yoke for the majority of my work, and the longeron yoke for maybe 10% of the rivets. I also have a 4" no-hole that I've only used for maybe 50 rivets or so, but it's been absolutely THE tool to have for those rivets.

I would get the standard 3" yoke, then the longeron yoke, then the 4" no-hole, in that order, as funds allow.