Desert Rat
Well Known Member
Hey all,
I bought a used kit with the empennage already finished, but the HS has a couple of issues, so I unskinned it. I then checked the substructure prior to reskinning to make sure I hadn't blown out any of the holes.
Obviously, dimpling will open up a hole slightly, but I can't find a spec anywhere. I did a couple of test coupons with new dimples and determined that for a #40 dimpled hole a 7/64 drill bit seems about right for a no-go gage but I found a few holes left over from the original builder that are exactly 7/64, i.e. it goes (barely) instead of "no-goes." I definitely didn't blow these out when I drilled the skin off, because they still have primer in them.
To cut to the chase, what is an acceptable hole size for a dimpled -3 rivet?
I bought a used kit with the empennage already finished, but the HS has a couple of issues, so I unskinned it. I then checked the substructure prior to reskinning to make sure I hadn't blown out any of the holes.
Obviously, dimpling will open up a hole slightly, but I can't find a spec anywhere. I did a couple of test coupons with new dimples and determined that for a #40 dimpled hole a 7/64 drill bit seems about right for a no-go gage but I found a few holes left over from the original builder that are exactly 7/64, i.e. it goes (barely) instead of "no-goes." I definitely didn't blow these out when I drilled the skin off, because they still have primer in them.
To cut to the chase, what is an acceptable hole size for a dimpled -3 rivet?