What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Vertical Stab

C

CDBridgesRV7A

Active Member
Hello Gang,

I just finished (for the most part) flush riveting the skin of the VS to the skeleton. How do you buck those last 2 rivets at the top of the VS towards the very tip? I don't have a bucking bar that will fit in there and my squeezer doesn't fit as well :( Any suggestions?

Cheers

Chris
 
CDBridgesRV7A said:
Hello Gang,

I just finished (for the most part) flush riveting the skin of the VS to the skeleton. How do you buck those last 2 rivets at the top of the VS towards the very tip? I don't have a bucking bar that will fit in there and my squeezer doesn't fit as well :( Any suggestions?

Cheers

Chris
Click to expand...

You can either get/find/or make a bucking bar that works or you can use pop rivets. Either works fine. By the way, as you progress and as you improve your rivet bucking skills, you'll find all sorts of things in your shop that weren't sold as "bucking bars", but work really well in weird applications.
 
Chris,

First of all, congrats on nearly finishing the VS! Throughout the build, you'll come up with some creative bucking techniques from time to time to reach some of those hard-to-reach rivets. I have a variety of different shaped bucking bars, and I've used some other things, too. It doesn't have to be a bucking bar, per se. I've used everything from the head of a bolt to some other tools. A polished surface and some mass behind it are the only requirements. You didn't mention details about your squeezer. Do you have a thin-nose yoke?
 
rivets

I didnt see spending much time trying to fight in a solid rivet. I used the mk-319-bs rivet. You do have to drill the hole size to #30, but dimple them to #3 rivet first. On finishing I just filled with a dab of epoxy, thin enough to make sure it went in the hole, and when cured sand smooth and no one will ever know. I will never tell..:) Keep in mind that some do go through the extra trouble to shoot those rivets and that is fine too! I did buy a few more, probably 20 or so of those rivets (mk-319-bs) and have used them in a very few similar locations. happy building, flying

bird
 
I can't remember having problems with those rivet. I think I used my no-hole yoke in the squeezer.
 
I back-riveted those rivets, and used a tire iron as the bucking bar. Its wedge-shaped point was thin enough to fit into that tight wedge space, but the iron was dense enough to flatten the rivet shop head. With the tip of the iron placed firmly against the rivet, and the body of the tire iron also resting on my work table about a foot out from the tip (a fulcrum effect), I now could place my rivet gun head directly on the tire iron about 2-3 inches out from the rivet. As long as I held the tire iron's ends down firmly against the rivet and the table, it worked like a charm. I wrapped some duct tape around the tire iron's tip to prevent scratching the rib.
 
Last edited:
I left those holes (and several others in the tail) open until I purchased a 4" thin nose squeezer later down the line. The thin nose worked great.
 
A good heavy crow bar makes a good bucking bar. I've slipped the flat end of one into tight places to buck rivets with solid results but it's a two-man process to keep control of everything.
 
I did it the easy way!

I used 5/32 HL18 Hi-Loks.

Easier and many times stronger, no banging on the metal.:)
 
scrollF4 said:
I back-riveted those rivets, and used a tire iron as the bucking bar. Its wedge-shaped point was thin enough to fit into that tight wedge space, but the iron was dense enough to flatten the rivet shop head. With the tip of the iron placed firmly against the rivet, and the body of the tire iron also resting on my work table about a foot out from the tip (a fulcrum effect), I now could place my rivet gun head directly on the tire iron about 2-3 inches out from the rivet. As long as I held the tire iron's ends down firmly against the rivet and the table, it worked like a charm. I wrapped some duct tape around the tire iron's tip to prevent scratching the rib.
Click to expand...

This is exactly how I've been riveting all the super tight trailing edge rib rivets, except I use a heavy masonry chisel. Works perfectly.
 
thin nose

i use the pop rivets for the first times i hit these type of tight places then i made a special bucking bar and then i bought a thin nose yoke,i like the yoke.
 
A tire iron or flat chisel! Awesome suggestions. I'll give that a try.

Bruce, I have a 3" yoke on my pneumatic squeezer. It's just a bit to big to fit into that small wedge space at the top of the VS. I also have 5 bucking bars, including a tungsten, but all of them are just a hair to big to fit into that tight space.

Thanks all for the suggestions.

Cheers

Chris
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top