Van's Air Force
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Starting to rivet HS.
- Thread starter rwarre
- Start date
captainron
Well Known Member
DaX
Well Known Member
This is the rivet practice sheet I made before I started riveting the HS. It was very helpful. I squeezed (by hand and pneumatically) the dimples, and practices hand squeezing, bucking, and pneumatically squeezing rivets until I felt comfortable. Surprisingly (to me), I'm best (read: most consistent) at bucking them!
philcam
Well Known Member
Funny, I'm at the point now where I need to rivet some skins too. I've never been to good using a rivet gun, just curious, do you guys put presure on your bucking bar and rivet gun to try and sandwich them in place, or do you just let the weight of the bar and gun rest on the rivets?
Matt, want to trade out work? I find squeezing rivets are no problem, you buck, I'll squeeze!
Phil
Matt, want to trade out work? I find squeezing rivets are no problem, you buck, I'll squeeze!
Phil
jsharkey
Well Known Member
philcam said:
You need to put some force on the gun before you squeeze the trigger in order to:
1. Push the rivet into the hole.
2. Press the parts to be riveted tightly together and
3. Keep the rivet set engaged on the rivet head while the gun does it's work
(ASIDE - By comparison back riveting tends to push the rivet OUT of the hole and does nothing to press the parts to be riveted together unless there is a spring loaded foot on the rivet set. Although the joint might not be as tight as a result back riveting does minimize the potential for damage to the parts to be riveted because the rivet set only contacts the rivet tail. This is why it is used on delicate parts such as control surfaces.)
For regular riveting you also need to put some force on the bucking bar in order to:
1. Counteract the force applied to the gun and
2. Steady the bucking bar - it needs to be held solidly square to the rivet tail.
You should always keep force applied to both the bar and the gun until after you release the trigger and the gun has stopped because:
1. A gun that fires a surprise "last shot" while not solidly engaged on the rivet head will strike out randomly and cause a "smiley" rivet or even worse a dented skin.
2. Similarly a surprise "last shot" without a supporting bucking bar to absorb it's energy might cause more serious damage to the assembly.
The level of force to be applied is a matter of feel. Heavier assemblies and longer rivets need surprisingly large forces. Thin parts and lighter assemblies need much lighter forces. Tank sealant seems to absorb some extra energy too - although that might just be my MEK induced halucinations!
I knew none of this before I started my RV6. The education part of "education and recreation" strikes again.
Jim Sharkey
Last edited:
DaX
Well Known Member
philcam said:
My dad runs the gun, I run the bar. He puts slight pressure on the gun (we're using Avery's flush swivel rivet set) and I put JUST enough pressure on the bar to keep contact with the rivet initially - this is VERY little pressure. If you look closely at the picture in my post above, the rivet in the bottom right corner is sticking out of the hole because I put too much pressure on the bar - I initially thought I had to prevent the bar from bouncing.
BTW I'm using a tungsten bar. Now I just make sure I can hold the bar square to the rivet and let the gun do the magic while I let the bar bounce, still only giving a slight "return" pressure on the bar. With the tungsten bar, it's weight does the job. I'm so spoiled.
Phil - if I were in TX, I'd turn you into a bucker in no time!
