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R903/904 Dimpling

C

CDBridgesRV7A

Active Member
Good Day Folks,

I'm dimpling my rudder parts and I seem to have hit a predicament. How do you dimple the last 3 holes (on each side) of R904 and the last 6 holes (on each side) of R903? I can't fit anything in there IOT dimple the holes. Is it possible to CS these holes with a hand CS tool?

Cheers

Chris
 
I second the vice grip dimpler. I ran into the same road block you're at a few months ago. They come in handy down the road too, I believe you can pick em up from aircraft spruce Canada. Saves a bit of shipping time and money.
 
Thanks Guys!

Sean B I actually have a set of pop rivet dimple dies, I just didn't know that these are what they were used for :eek: Thanks! They were included in my tool kit. How exactly do they work? I've used blind rivets already so I'm familiar with those. Do the pop rivet dimple dies work the same but don't snap off the nail? Once again thanks.

Chris
 
CDBridgesRV7A said:
Sean B I actually have a set of pop rivet dimple dies, I just didn't know that these are what they were used for :eek: Thanks! They were included in my tool kit. How exactly do they work? I've used blind rivets already so I'm familiar with those. Do the pop rivet dimple dies work the same but don't snap off the nail? Once again thanks. Chris
Click to expand...

Yes, exactly right. Use the nail to pull the dies together with your pop-rivet tool, to form a dimple. No need to break the nail. In some extremely tight situations, you may need to bend the flange out slightly just to get the nail in place. Bend it back gently when you're through dimpling. I found that slight countersinking with a one-hole deburring bit, after you dimple it, makes these pop-rivet dimples even better. I use a small piece of scrap aluminum that has been drilled and dimpled as a tester, to see how well a skin dimple will nest into these dimples we're talking about. You can easily see if it fits down into it nice and flush. If not, countersink just a bit more and test again.
 
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Chris,

Bruce gives a good description how to use the blind rivet dimple dies. This tool may be a challenge for these parts because of inserting the nail in that tight space. The vice grip dimple die seems the best tool for these areas.

Also, you may want to get a no-hole squeezer yoke for these kinds of rivets. It's another tool that comes in very handy in several parts of the build.
 
Thanks Bruce and Sean

Sean, you are absolutely right. The nail is hard to fit into the tight spaces. I got all the holes done on both R903 and R904, except the last 2 on each side of R903.

Bruce, thanks for the description. I tried it out on a scrap piece that I have. I did mange to break 2 nails in the process, and a piece from my Stanley pop rivet gun as well. It should still be under warranty :)

Cheers

Chris
 
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