![]() it would be cheaper to order the ready-made spars. In setting big rivets with a rivet gun, try to form the shop heads with as few blows as possible to avoid work-hardening and cracking the formed rivet heads.Īs for buying one of these jewels, the cost is upwards of $1,000. Of course, it will be too late to correct the rivets flattened excessively, but you can still correct the rivets that need to be hit a bit more. By the time you have finished setting all the rivets in the spars you will be pretty good with the rivet gun. It will take some practice to develop the skill necessary to flatten the shop heads to a uniform height and diameter. Remember, the rivet gun must be pressed hard against the rivet to prevent the gun from bouncing and making a "smiley" (a crease in the rivet head). Having somebody handle the bucking bar will allow you to use both hands on the rivet gun. None of the typical 2-3 pound bucking bars you may already have purchased will be heavy enough for bucking the large 3/16" diameter rivets. By heavy I mean a bucking bar that weighs at least 5 pounds. ![]() I recommend that you have somebody handle the heavy bucking bar. The heavy duty rivet gun method works best with the spar assembly clamped or otherwise immobilized in a vertical position. This usually results in poor workmanship. This is undesirable as numerous light blows tend to flair the end of the rivet and work-harden it. Some builders find that a 3X gun is a bit weak and requires an excessive number of blows to set a 3/16" rivet. The short handle sledge/arbor press technique.is the least expensive heavy rivet setting method of all. ![]() The Avery Hand Riveting and Dimpling Tool and a heavy hammer.ĭ. A pneumatic rivet squeezer of adequate capacity, orĬ. A slow hitting heavy duty 3X, or larger capacity, rivet gun that has good finger control, orī. Inserting each rivet and setting it using one of the following methods:Ī. It will be difficult to drive out the old rivet, and in trying to do so, you may, unfortunately, enlarge the hole by misdrilling it. Figure 3 shows one way to handle that delicate task.ħ. Besides, drilling out a long 3/16" rivet through multiple layers of solid aluminum is a risky job. This is very important because nobody deserves having to drill out a perfectly good rivet just because it doesn’t belong there. Note: Insert a bolt in every hole that does not need a rivet. Assembling the various spar components and clamping the spar web strips in place with temporary 3/16" diameter commercial bolts and plain nuts. Priming each part with a good zinc chromate primer. Deburring and smoothing the edges of the individual spar component parts.ĥ. Cutting out the spar web lightening holes to save weight and to permit easier access during assembly.Ĥ. A band saw is used to simplify and speed up this work.ģ. The optional, but worthwhile, tapering of each spar reinforcement strip to reduce weight. Restudy the spar instructions and drawings carefully before you do anything else.Ģ. You still have to do all the precise spar assembly drilling yourself, and even make do with some hand-me-down RV-4 substitute parts that have to be modified to fit.ġ. The one exception I found is the comparatively neglected RV-3 kit. Now all of the wing spar webs and spar flanges are pre-drilled at the factory for accuracy. Here is why the RV-4 and RV-6 spar assembly is no longer as difficult for the builder as it used to be. But best of all, by doing their own spar work those extra hundreds of dollars saved are better used for the purchase of instruments or other essential goodies. Much to their surprise, they learn that the dreaded spar assembly is simpler than expected. However, $700 is a lot of money and more and more builders are "biting the bullet." That is, they are undertaking the spar assembly work themselves. Furthermore, you can tell yourself that the factory completed spars actually represent but a small portion of the overall project cost. for a price, of course (approximately $700).įor that amount you receive prefabricated spars that are beautifully anodized, and really are quite impressive. One such option is to have the wing spars factory assembled. Anyone building one of the Van’s Aircraft all-metal RV series kits has a number of options to choose from.
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