This week I was able to complete the Horizontal Stabilizer, so all that's left for the tailcone/empennage kit is the elevator. The delivery of the Fuselage is going to be delayed by about a month (hopefully arrive sometime in December), so I've been going over each section identifying problems and looking at what I should improve upon moving forward. One thing that I have gotten a lot of practice with the tailcone and H-stab is riveting (a lot more practice still to come ). Throughout the first sections I have been using a rivet gauge to check rivets and would aim to have the rivet just barely fit in the hole and not be able to pass under the lip. I did this based off advice from many builders and the instructions from the manufacturer of the gauge "the gauge measures the minimum acceptable height and minimum acceptable diameter". Out of curiosity I went ahead and measured the depth of the lip and found that it was not the minimum 0.038", but that is was about 0.053". Am I missing something here? I went ahead and measured the depths of the other gauges in the set and found that they were also near the higher end of the milspec standard. Throughout the build I have made only a few modifications that I have seen other builders do with rivet sizes (but the vast majority are the Van's recommendations). I measured the diameter of the hole on the gauge and it was the appropriate 0.140". Given that I ensure that the rivets just fit over the gauge with little/no movement (I've started eyeing each rivet and checking with gauge every 10 or so rivets to ensure I'm calibrated), the rivets are the correct 1.5 X diameter, but the rivet height is confusing me. I've attached some pictures of rivets throughout the project.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ucwRxRJDpfrZ8kjF6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/dR5snPRExTCi5YT27
https://photos.app.goo.gl/xgAwgdoV2BvxY53V8
I know that the rivets are properly set but the gauge is really confusing me. Maybe I'm just overthinking this, but based off the fact that I am following the rivet callouts and the gauge is just catching on the rivets, what is the difference between this gauge and the appropriate 0.038" gauge? The main thing I've been trying to ensure is consistency during the build and I feel as though I've done a pretty good job of it so far, but this is really throwing me for a loop.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ucwRxRJDpfrZ8kjF6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/dR5snPRExTCi5YT27
https://photos.app.goo.gl/xgAwgdoV2BvxY53V8
I know that the rivets are properly set but the gauge is really confusing me. Maybe I'm just overthinking this, but based off the fact that I am following the rivet callouts and the gauge is just catching on the rivets, what is the difference between this gauge and the appropriate 0.038" gauge? The main thing I've been trying to ensure is consistency during the build and I feel as though I've done a pretty good job of it so far, but this is really throwing me for a loop.