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Tie down bracket spacers

N

N690RV's Dad

Member
My son, building the RV7 is working on the tiedown brackets. He's got the bolt holes drilled and the nut plate holes drilled. When does the the 1" hole get drilled? The instructions aren't to clear about that. I told him that they should be drilled before riveting the nutplates to the bracket.
 
Hi Mike,

Welcome to the VAF Forums. There's a wealth of information and experience here and I've found the answers to many questions I've had. Another place I've gone for building assistance are various builders logs that are posted on the internet. One that has helped me immeasurably is Brad Oliver's log. Go there and you'll find the answers to your question. His log is easily searched with a good index and he has many pictures and text to help you out (and he's done nice work) The address is:

http://www.rv7factory.com/index.php

I hope this helps.

Brad
 
I would think you would definately want to drill the large hole before mounting the nutplates. I drilled those holes as I was fabricating the spacers. This was the first time I had used the fly-cutter on thick material and it wasn't that simple. I did eventually figure out that it is better to only cut half way though the material then flip the piece over and finish the hole. Do be very careful if you use one of these cutters to cut the hole they can be very dangerous.
 
Brad,

Great pictures!!! Going to have to bookmark your page.


Ray,

Good idea about going half way.

I bought a 1" hole saw that's supposed to be good for metal. We'll see.
 
Mike,

I used a hole saw also and IIRC it worked okay, but needed some edge finishing to make it pretty. I guess you could try the half way procedure using a hole saw also. It might help with the "pretty".

Glad you liked Brad Oliver's site. I go there frequently for information. When I'm getting ready to do a certain step in building, I check in on the RV-7 factory first to help plan my work. Seeing what Brad experienced prepares me for what I can expect. I think it helps a lot.

Have fun building and keep smashin' those rivets.

Brad
 
Just did this yesterday

I cut the bar on the band saw just oversize, finished to size on the disc sander, drilled the center hole in steps to 1/4", used a 7/8" hole saw on the drill press, then a unibit step drill from both sides to 1". Cleaned it up with a slightly worn 1" scotchbrite wheel on an angle die grinder.
 
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