CDBridgesRV7A
Active Member
Hiya Folks,
My tools finally arrived today so I spent the entire afternoon/evening in the "hangar" trying to build my practise tool box. I just ordered another one from Vans (I'd rather this than mess up my actual airplane)
What I found was a couple of things. I'm pretty sure I'm doing things wrong. I have a DRDT2 dimpler. Once I set up the dimpler, as per the instructions, and I dimpled the end pieces and the body I noticed that it actually bent the metal. So instead of a nice straight piece, I had a bowed piece. When I assembled the pieces the box ended up not being straight, to the point where the lid wouldn't sit properly. Did I over dimple my holes? How do you set up the DRDT2 dimpler for dimpling? The rivets ended up being flush so I'm not sure why it bent the metal.
I tried using my pneumatic squeezer to set some rivers, and to dimple, but I couldn't figure that out. How do you set the squeezer up so that you can set rivets with it? I found that the 2 ends wouldn't meet up to squash the rivet. Do you have to add washers to make the gap smaller? Same with dimpling, I found that the dimple dies wouldn'y merry up flush with one another, so it actually looked like no dimples were done. Can you adjust the 3 inch yoke so that you get good dimples and rivets?
Riveting - I used my 3X rivet gun, but I found it was hard to control. The manual says to set the PSI at 90, which is what I did, but the head bounced all over the place. I looked on You Tube and saw that some people set the PSI down to 30-40 PSI. Is this the norm? What are the secrets to riveting? How do you know you have made a good shop head? What does a good shop head suppose to look like?
Bucking Bar - I have a tungsten bucking bar. At one point I laid the bar on my work bench, put the piece of aluminum on top, and then hit it with the rivet gun. I think it squashed the shop head too much (due to the unforgiveness of the work bench as opposed to just holding it in your hand), as the rivet just popped right out (shop head popped right out of the rivet hole). What is the correct way to use the bucking bar?
All in all the tool box ended up being a dog's breakfast and I binned it. Fortunately, the tool box will not be flying me from point A to Point B so I don't mind screwing it up. This was my first time in metal shop in 28 years, or so. So much to learn again! Any tips/suggestions/help you guys and gals can provide, IRT dimpling, riveting or anything else, would be greatly appreciated.
My day started off great, as I waited for these tools for 2 weeks, but it ended in frustration Hope this isn't a sign of things to come!
Cheers
Chris
My tools finally arrived today so I spent the entire afternoon/evening in the "hangar" trying to build my practise tool box. I just ordered another one from Vans (I'd rather this than mess up my actual airplane)
What I found was a couple of things. I'm pretty sure I'm doing things wrong. I have a DRDT2 dimpler. Once I set up the dimpler, as per the instructions, and I dimpled the end pieces and the body I noticed that it actually bent the metal. So instead of a nice straight piece, I had a bowed piece. When I assembled the pieces the box ended up not being straight, to the point where the lid wouldn't sit properly. Did I over dimple my holes? How do you set up the DRDT2 dimpler for dimpling? The rivets ended up being flush so I'm not sure why it bent the metal.
I tried using my pneumatic squeezer to set some rivers, and to dimple, but I couldn't figure that out. How do you set the squeezer up so that you can set rivets with it? I found that the 2 ends wouldn't meet up to squash the rivet. Do you have to add washers to make the gap smaller? Same with dimpling, I found that the dimple dies wouldn'y merry up flush with one another, so it actually looked like no dimples were done. Can you adjust the 3 inch yoke so that you get good dimples and rivets?
Riveting - I used my 3X rivet gun, but I found it was hard to control. The manual says to set the PSI at 90, which is what I did, but the head bounced all over the place. I looked on You Tube and saw that some people set the PSI down to 30-40 PSI. Is this the norm? What are the secrets to riveting? How do you know you have made a good shop head? What does a good shop head suppose to look like?
Bucking Bar - I have a tungsten bucking bar. At one point I laid the bar on my work bench, put the piece of aluminum on top, and then hit it with the rivet gun. I think it squashed the shop head too much (due to the unforgiveness of the work bench as opposed to just holding it in your hand), as the rivet just popped right out (shop head popped right out of the rivet hole). What is the correct way to use the bucking bar?
All in all the tool box ended up being a dog's breakfast and I binned it. Fortunately, the tool box will not be flying me from point A to Point B so I don't mind screwing it up. This was my first time in metal shop in 28 years, or so. So much to learn again! Any tips/suggestions/help you guys and gals can provide, IRT dimpling, riveting or anything else, would be greatly appreciated.
My day started off great, as I waited for these tools for 2 weeks, but it ended in frustration Hope this isn't a sign of things to come!
Cheers
Chris