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Did I just ruin my Rudder Spar with smiles?

J

jonom

Member
Sigh... I was squeezing the rivets that attach the K1000-6 nutplates to the Rudder Spar (R-00902-1) on Page 07-05 and must have been getting tired... I now have two smiles in the aluminium.

Have I just ruined it, What do the experts think, will I need to buy another spar? (I'm kicking myself :()
 

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You said this was with a squeezer? If so check what set you were using on the nut plate side. I’m guessing you were getting some contact from the nut plate to the yoke that caused things to tilt. Might need to flip things around or put a different set in so you have no contact.
 
What you might want to do is shave down the diameter of your header and I even shaved some off of a squeezer. I just used a belt sander to take off what I needed. Helped in a lot of tight places.
danny
 
And as others have said, if using a gun, I am a big fan of the "SNAP-SOC" Rivet Set Caps.

Im smiling that Im not smiling.
 
Your shop heads are very consistent. You mentioned squeezing the rivets. Make sure everything is secured in some fashion, it is hard to rivet moving parts. If you are holding the part and riveting with the other hand it is very easy to let something twist a few degrees, then your rivet set can make contact with the skin.

Because you are just starting out I suggest you make sure the part can't move. Clamp the main part to the bench or in a vice, just protect it from damage from the jaws of the vice. Then your full concentration can be on managing the squeezer.
 
Thank you all. I was kicking myself pretty hard.. then about 5 minutes later I got the encouragement I needed at that exact moment.. "Build On"

I'm carefully reading the rest of the advice and especially like the idea to shave down the diameter of your header.

Dr_Dave_MT, I was struggling to make sense of the image in Section 5 of the plans that has the artwork from Tony Bingelis - as it clearly says if you smile the actual rivet head its OK, but ugly... where as it just says "damaged skin" and no suggestion if that's OK or not. Seems that it's not a show stopper in this case.

I'll be sure to be more careful in future :)
 
+1 on all suggestions. I shaved down my cupped rivet sets just a tiny bit (makes a huge difference IMHO), also applied masking tape in the cup set (a poor man's snap-soc if you like), clamp the work to free both hands if using a squeezer, pay special attention to proper clearance of the entire yoke against flanges or other potentially interfering parts during the squeeze, and resist as best as possible the tendency for the arm of the squeezer to force the yoke to bend toward the handles as you squeeze - especially for AN470 rivets. I have found that I usually need to apply some slight opposing force in the opposite direction during the squeeze to keep the yoke from sliding over on the rivet head. Also agree with build on advice after looking at your pics.
 
Thanks for the support everyone.
To any future builders stumbling across this post...

I could have prevented the smiles in my work by:
  • Clamping down the piece of work, to free up both hands
  • Considering squeeze the nutplate rivets vs gun + bucking bar
  • Shaving down the rivet set cups (just a little)
  • Applying tape or using a snap-soc
 
jonom said:
Thank you all. I was kicking myself pretty hard.. then about 5 minutes later I got the encouragement I needed at that exact moment.. "Build On"

I'm carefully reading the rest of the advice and especially like the idea to shave down the diameter of your header.

Dr_Dave_MT, I was struggling to make sense of the image in Section 5 of the plans that has the artwork from Tony Bingelis - as it clearly says if you smile the actual rivet head its OK, but ugly... where as it just says "damaged skin" and no suggestion if that's OK or not. Seems that it's not a show stopper in this case.

I'll be sure to be more careful in future :)
Click to expand...
Ya. I have a few. I just say “Sorry Tony” and build on. -dl
 
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