Excellent! I love it when things work like they should. Great job Jim! If you have any photos you can post that would be helpful too
Rachel
Riveting Wing Spars
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A forum for Panther aircraft builders and Enthusiasts. Two simple rules: Play nice and use a real name
A forum for Panther aircraft builders and Enthusiasts. Two simple rules: Play nice and use a real name
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rlweseman
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Jim Hurdle
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Re: Riveting Wing Spars
The rivet squeezer if fairly quick to use if you have prepared your workbench ahead of time. I screwed blocks to my workbench to hold the squeezer body from moving and also used blocks to hold the feet of the actuator. With roller stands at both ends of the workbench, the spar assembly rolls through easy. I was able to rivet both spars in 4 hours total. The most time of any aspect was flipping the spars to get to upper and lower spar cap rivets and fwd and backward for the countersunk rivets on the inboard ends.
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rlweseman
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Re: Riveting Wing Spars
Spar Rivet Squeezer Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... LcrJvSSa4
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rlweseman
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Re: Riveting Wing Spars
Posted by Paul Salter on 12/17/2013
I finished the other spar tonight, a total of about 7 hours for both. The first row of rivets on one spar took about 3 hours. I tried different techniques the first night, and this evening I did the other 3 rows in about 1 hour each. There is also about an hour of setup time that included putting the screws and bolts in the spar, and some additional temporary screws to hold the stack up together. The rivet squeezer works great, and makes it much easier. We will be adding some of the tips and techniques that I used to the builders manual. Bob and Buddy made some suggestions also, which I also used.
I finished the other spar tonight, a total of about 7 hours for both. The first row of rivets on one spar took about 3 hours. I tried different techniques the first night, and this evening I did the other 3 rows in about 1 hour each. There is also about an hour of setup time that included putting the screws and bolts in the spar, and some additional temporary screws to hold the stack up together. The rivet squeezer works great, and makes it much easier. We will be adding some of the tips and techniques that I used to the builders manual. Bob and Buddy made some suggestions also, which I also used.
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rlweseman
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Re: Riveting Wing Spars
Posted by Rachel Weseman on 12/17/2013
We are working on the signup sheet for the rivet squeezer now. Photos also being added to the Builders Manual. Paul Salter did half of one of his spars last night in about 3 hours, working alone.
We are working on the signup sheet for the rivet squeezer now. Photos also being added to the Builders Manual. Paul Salter did half of one of his spars last night in about 3 hours, working alone.
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rlweseman
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Re: Riveting Wing Spars
Posted by Bob Woolley on 12/15/2013
For you builders that are about to receive your spars from Dan and Rachel, take the opportunity to watch the latest video on the new spare rivet tool. I just spent about 7 hours with Buddy Henson and in that time we completely riveted both main spares. Working alone, one could expect to rivet both spars in two days of steady work. Working with a two person team, you could expect to reduce that time by 40%. Using this tool, every builder should be able to set perfect rivets in both spars.
For you builders that are about to receive your spars from Dan and Rachel, take the opportunity to watch the latest video on the new spare rivet tool. I just spent about 7 hours with Buddy Henson and in that time we completely riveted both main spares. Working alone, one could expect to rivet both spars in two days of steady work. Working with a two person team, you could expect to reduce that time by 40%. Using this tool, every builder should be able to set perfect rivets in both spars.
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rlweseman
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Re: Riveting Wing Spars
Posted by Will Mensink on 1/14/2014
I probably should followup on this post for anyone considering using a press other than the SPA Riveter if available to them. We completed riveting both spars the next day. We did our best quality work using just one stand to level the spar while the non riveter held the spar and confirmed that it was level both lengthwise and side to side before setting the rivet. We only had a couple of rivets start to fold over and found it very easy to drill and punch out the reject without any damage to the spar. Accuracy was better when using the shortest piston throw. This particular press design required dropping the throat to a larger opening setting creating a longer piston extension for some of the thicker sections of the spar. This would allow slightly more side play in the piston assembly. We still got good results if we insured no side load was on the rivet and the force was directly in line with the Factory head support die.
I probably should followup on this post for anyone considering using a press other than the SPA Riveter if available to them. We completed riveting both spars the next day. We did our best quality work using just one stand to level the spar while the non riveter held the spar and confirmed that it was level both lengthwise and side to side before setting the rivet. We only had a couple of rivets start to fold over and found it very easy to drill and punch out the reject without any damage to the spar. Accuracy was better when using the shortest piston throw. This particular press design required dropping the throat to a larger opening setting creating a longer piston extension for some of the thicker sections of the spar. This would allow slightly more side play in the piston assembly. We still got good results if we insured no side load was on the rivet and the force was directly in line with the Factory head support die.
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rlweseman
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Riveting Wing Spars
Posted by Will Mensink on 1/14/2014
This is my first post to the Cave so please forgive me if this isn't set up properly. This is my friend Isaac and his C-frame he fabricated to build airplane parts, railroad tracks and bridge spans. It's overkill for the Panther spar job but he did an incredible job setting it up to do precision work defying it's size. We got a late start and just did about 1/4 of the spar. Used two roller stands to level each end and stabilize and all perfect rivets so far. Hoping to continue that trend over the next few days.
Will
This is my first post to the Cave so please forgive me if this isn't set up properly. This is my friend Isaac and his C-frame he fabricated to build airplane parts, railroad tracks and bridge spans. It's overkill for the Panther spar job but he did an incredible job setting it up to do precision work defying it's size. We got a late start and just did about 1/4 of the spar. Used two roller stands to level each end and stabilize and all perfect rivets so far. Hoping to continue that trend over the next few days.
Will
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