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Nutplate Jig

lonkelm

Active Member
What Nutplate jigs are recommended or needed for the -10? Standards #6 and #8 should handle any mods like making a tunnel cover. What else?
 
You really don’t need a jig unless you want one. Just as easy to use a nutplate as its own jig.
 
You don't need nutplate jigs, but they sure are nice to have...

#6, #8, and #10 will probably find a use...
 
I got probably a dozen in an eBay tool purchase.

The one I used most often, by far, was standard 2 flange with a #40 pilot.
 
I have a #6 and #8 nut plate jigs from ATS and enjoy them for making quick work of longer items like wing tips and piano hinges, but as others have said, you can simply screw a nut plate on and use that, which is what I do for the rare #10 or larger nut plate.
 
Understood, they are not needed. But I also understand they are helpful. 6,8, and maybe 10. Thanks!
 
Different jig

I made a different jig - the female part of a dimple die - so I could dimple the ears in the drdt-2 without grinding down the real die, nor worry about keeping the ground-down side oriented toward the threaded part.
Of course, if I were building now, I wouldn’t dimple these things at all- I’d use the special small-head rivets and countersink the skin.
 
You really don’t need a jig unless you want one. Just as easy to use a nutplate as its own jig.

You can use one as a jig by putting a machine screw with a hex nut on it through the part and into the threads of the plate nut. Then spin the hex nut down to clamp the plate nut in place, drill through one ear, put a Cleco in it, and drill through the other ear. One of the side benefits is that you will never install a plate nut that escaped getting threaded during manufacture (which happens once in a while).
 
Platenut jig

You can use one as a jig by putting a machine screw with a hex nut on it through the part and into the threads of the plate nut. Then spin the hex nut down to clamp the plate nut in place, drill through one ear, put a Cleco in it, and drill through the other ear. One of the side benefits is that you will never install a plate nut that escaped getting threaded during manufacture (which happens once in a while).

What he ^ said. I don't do it exactly the same but the technique works and the screw or bolt in the center, insures the assembly is matched to the platenut. Or is it Nutplate? :D
 
You can use one as a jig by putting a machine screw with a hex nut on it through the part and into the threads of the plate nut. Then spin the hex nut down to clamp the plate nut in place, drill through one ear, put a Cleco in it, and drill through the other ear. One of the side benefits is that you will never install a plate nut that escaped getting threaded during manufacture (which happens once in a while).

Even faster is to thread an appropriate sized screw just a few turns by hand to locate the nutplate. Use a side clamp cleco to hold it in place while you drill one side, remove the side clamp and put in a normal cleco in the just drilled hole. Drill the second hole. Done— rinse and repeat.
 
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Nut Plate (Plate, Nut) Jig

I believe the last one I bought (#8) was $10 from The Yard. I love it, use it all the time. BTW, I also use OOPPS rivets with the nutplates.
 
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I believe the last one I bought (#8) was $10 from The Yard. I love it, use it all the time. BTW, I also use OPPS rivets with the nutplates.

Yes! it is a great application for Oops rivets. One of the uses that made Rick (uhm what was his last name? From St Louis, worked at McDonnell in St Louis?) argue that we shouldn't call them Oops rivets. They have some important uses. (I confess I still call them Oops rivets too - people know what you mean when you call them that)
 
or just make your own...

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came in v handy when modifying the baffles to make the first two sections removable...

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I didn't use a nutplate jig, but almost every time I put a nutplate in I wished I had a jig. Kind of like a band saw - I kept saying "I'm almost done, don't need one now" - but then I needed one. I recommend you buy some jigs, at least for #6 and #8.
 
Only one jig is needed, and they very much speed up the process of drilling for the plate nut/nut plate. I built with only the #6 and drilled up the center hole to size for larger screws.
 
#6 and #8, but I only use them for winged nutplates now. For the corner nutplates where rivets are on one side, the nutplate has a bit of wiggle room and can cause subtle misalignment that will strip the bolt. Learned this when I was putting the Airward reinforcement plates on. Ended up for many of the nutplates having to rivet the nutplate with the bolt threaded in place to make sure it's located correctly.
 
When I started my 2nd -6, I vowed to get every convenience tool I was too cheap to buy for the first build. That included a pneumatic squeezer and cleco pliers and others. But the very first thing I bought was nutplate jigs, #6 & #8. Well worth it. I'll probably add #10 just because.
 
Just received my #6, #8, and #10 from the Yardstore.

When I started my 2nd -6, I vowed to get every convenience tool I was too cheap to buy for the first build. That included a pneumatic squeezer and cleco pliers and others. But the very first thing I bought was nutplate jigs, #6 & #8. Well worth it. I'll probably add #10 just because.
 
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