Sounds great. Maybe enough to get me motivated to continue my RV-9.
Iām in for a class, if itās during the day of a weekday.
It would b a cool skill to learn.
Yes! I need to do aluminum riveting for a current project and I have no experience with it; any chance of this happening in the next couple of weeks?
I would also be happy to split the cost of tools/materials with some other members to donate to DMS.
Do you have a rivet gun?
No, but I would be happy to chip in to help get one for the space.
I donāt know anything specifically about riveting, but we have several of the handheld pump guns in the workshop, 2nd drawer from the bottom I think, red toolbox.
@motopilot would be the best guy to help you with a quick riveting demo but I could also give you a quick lesson. I could meet you at the space sometime and bring my rivet gun, bucking bar and some rivets. Iām canāt part with my tools, though, so youād need to acquire your own or see if metal shop has or will get them.
1 Like
The riveters at the space are for āpopā or pulled-rivets.
A rivet gun (or squeezer) is necessary for solid aluminum rivets.
A few additional tools are necessary.
At the bare minimum, a rivet gun is needed. (unless you want to manually peen the rivet with a ball-peen hammer)
Hereās a good starter rivet gun that should work. It comes with several rivet sets and bucking bars, and a nice case to keep it all together so youāll notice if a piece is missing.
Clecos are almost mandatory to hold the work pieces together while riveting. Approximately 20 to start. The size needed for typical round-head rivets is 1/8".
Also, a couple Cleco pliers because if one is lost, youāre out of luck.
https://www.yardstore.com/cleco-pliers-with-grip
And #30 drill bits if there arenāt already a good supply at the space.
And, some rivets:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/hapages/solidalumrivets2.php
A few sizes of universal head (round) 1/8" rivets.
(.13 of a pound of each - or about 200)
AN470AD-4-3
AN470AD-4-4
AN470AD-4-5
AN470AD-4-6
AN470AD-4-7
Additional sizes depending on the thickness of the metal youāre trying to fasten.
Determine rivet size by measuring the total thickness of the metal youāre joining in 1/16ths of an inch, and add 3/16. So, if the metal is 1/8" (2/16") then youād need a 5/16" rivet which is the -5 rivet above.
If riveting flush rivets, other tools are needed, including 3/32 clecos, countersink tool and microstop set, etc. Flush rivets are typically used on the skin of an aircraft or when youāre looking for a flush surface on the finished surfaceā¦
2 Likes
So, my original post mentioned having a class ready by the end of May. I was careful to omit the year, and it looks like 2018 will be it.
I have a curriculum ready, but Iāve never taught an official class and need to go through that process. It appears to be 2 weeks from schedule to class, which would put the first class in June at the earliest (and my June and July is really busy).
A better bet would be some informal training and help on a couple evenings/weekends that I might be able to be at the space. A full class on Universal and flush head rivets takes at least an hour and a half. Universal only would be much faster and could have you working within 30 minutes.
My first availability is Sunday the 20th at about 8:30pm.
Does this time work for anyone? (reply here) I need to limit this to only a few people this time because otherwise we wonāt have time for you to practice.
4 Likes
Very interested in the class
CDC surplus sells Cleckos of various sizes & styles. Thatās where I got my set.
I would be interested in the Sunday class. Iāll already be there for HAAS training.
Countā¦meā¦inā¦
Thank you!! Sunday the 20th at 8:30pm would work for me. I need to do flush rivets for a partial mockup of a P-51 I am working onāso if you have the time to teach that, I would really appreciate it.
Is there anything we would need to pick up before the class?
It looks like $300ā400 should put us in business with equipment for riveting at DMS. Iām willing to donate part of that if we can get a few other people onboard.
This sounds very interesting, if there are other informal sessions or a class scheduled in June I will definitely watch for those in the calendar. Thanks for putting this together.
Looks like we have 3 or 4, so letās stop there. Iāll post again when I have another time available.
A little over 2 years and about 1200 hours of work logged (so probably more).
How long before we have a Locost build at DMS? Steel space frame with stressed aluminum body panels. Whoās got a donor car?
As soon as you agree to be the leader of the projectā¦
Iām in thoughā¦ Iād love to build a car.
Reference for those who didnāt know you could build a car:
With a baby coming next month, I donāt think Iām leading any such projects any time soon.