mt vert. skin is assembled, ready to rivit. has anyone done anything with the tip of their rivit gun to improve the looks of their pop rivits? i mean either /and a smaller hole of the tip and maybe a thin layer of a softer material [nylon, delrin] between the rivit head and the tip of the rivitgun?
Van's Air Force
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riveting skins
- Thread starter bobnoffs
- Start date
Phantom30
Well Known Member
Bob,
When you prepare for paint prep....you will buff the minor scuffs off the rivet heads (nothing to worry about). I am in the process of filling all the rivet holes for paint prep; then a very light buff sand which removes the stuff you are speaking of... The filling process doesn't take a lot of time if you do it right.
I know some think it wrong (not the way Van's built theirs), but after looking at an RV-12 with filled and painted...it's a neat looking bird done that way.
RFSchaller
Well Known Member
Make sure you use the smallest diameter nosepiece that will pass the mandrel. I once got lazy and pulled a rivet with a nosepiece intended for a larger mandrel. The head extruded into the nosepiece hole leaving a bump. I got to drill it and do it right for my laziness.
E. D. Eliot
Well Known Member
Info please
Ric, I'm interested to know the process and tools that you are using to fill the rivet heads. I will more than likely follow your lead. Thanks very much.
Ric, I'm interested to know the process and tools that you are using to fill the rivet heads. I will more than likely follow your lead. Thanks very much.
Painting Prep
Hi folks,I'm glad this subject came up, I'm thinking of having the wings & stabilator etc. painted soon, & was wondering what is the best & easiest method of taking off the small burrs on the rivet heads that seem to be caused by the mandrel pin being pulled out by the rivet gun. Any advice on painting preparation from those who have been there already would be very helpful, Thanks, DEAN ...
Hi folks,I'm glad this subject came up, I'm thinking of having the wings & stabilator etc. painted soon, & was wondering what is the best & easiest method of taking off the small burrs on the rivet heads that seem to be caused by the mandrel pin being pulled out by the rivet gun. Any advice on painting preparation from those who have been there already would be very helpful, Thanks, DEAN ...
Phantom30
Well Known Member
Get some "SuperFil" (2 part epoxy) from Aircraft Spruce. Some 12ml suringes w/#16 x 1" needles (probably 20ea), pop cycle sticks and small paper plates.
You mix the SuperFil per instructions (small blobs..approximately same size using pop cycle sticks). Shorten 1" needle to 1/4" (as this will allow epoxy to flow from suringe).
Key I found is to have "everything" @ 80 degrees F. As this will aid in easy flow of epoxy from suringe and into rivet holes much much easier. After a few runs you will get into the rythum.. It took me 3 to 4 suringe per wing side (maybe 3 hours)...let harden a few days.
Then lightly sand top of rivets. I used a 90 degree die grinder w/2" sanding disk. Whatever you use...make sure you are not removing too much metal from rivets. I ran the sanding disks over smooth metal work bench until nearly wore out...so as not to remove too much metal. This will also work for thoughs that just want to deburr your rivets!!!!
Edit:: credit should be noted...Geico226 was where basic procedure was found..except for having temp. @ 80 degrees.
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E. D. Eliot
Well Known Member
Judges - Interesting
Judges - smudges - who cares??? After reading the associated info above which contains the infor that the judges at OSH (and other shows?) want to see the 'real' tops of each pulled rivet, it is easy for me to not care what the judges want to see. In my opinion, after you have seen the top of one or ten pulled rivets, you have seen the tops of all of the pulled rivets. I seriously doubt that my 12 will ever see any of the big judged shows anyway so who cares!
I understand that those at Van's wouldn't necessarily support filling the tops of all of the outside pulled rivets due to the 'keep it simple and light' creed. I appreciate that but as more than one wise man here has said, build the plane as you want. Just wondering though, from the point of view of the DAR who blesses my build, do I need to do this after his sign off or can I fill my rivets prior to sign off. IE. is this a part of the finish?
Judges - smudges - who cares??? After reading the associated info above which contains the infor that the judges at OSH (and other shows?) want to see the 'real' tops of each pulled rivet, it is easy for me to not care what the judges want to see. In my opinion, after you have seen the top of one or ten pulled rivets, you have seen the tops of all of the pulled rivets. I seriously doubt that my 12 will ever see any of the big judged shows anyway so who cares!
I understand that those at Van's wouldn't necessarily support filling the tops of all of the outside pulled rivets due to the 'keep it simple and light' creed. I appreciate that but as more than one wise man here has said, build the plane as you want. Just wondering though, from the point of view of the DAR who blesses my build, do I need to do this after his sign off or can I fill my rivets prior to sign off. IE. is this a part of the finish?
