Tip: Removing stuck dies from squeezer

For whatever reason, riveting-dies sometimes get stuck in the squeezer. The ones on the "top" part of the yoke are easy to tap out with a punch. The ones on the bottom (nearest the handle) are tougher. Here's an easy way to remove the bottom die.

THE PROBLEM: Stuck die:




SOLUTION: Close the handles of the squeezer slightly, to raise the die up and away from the yoke. Insert cleco pliers around the die. Push down slightly on the cleco plier handle:




RESULT: The leverage will raise the die up enough for you to remove it the rest of the way by hand:




Hope this helps someone. Happy building!

Cool idea, Buck. I 've been using an old pair of needlenose for the same prying-up process.

Terry Ruprecht
RV9A QB fuse

Luv it!

Thanks.

Dimple!

Ever get your dimple dies stuck together? Those can be a real pain in the @#$ to get apart!

wingtime said:

Ever get your dimple dies stuck together? Those can be a real pain in the @#$ to get apart!

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I gotta ask...how did that happen?

I had it happen to me once on my HS skin - finally figured out I had missed deburring one hole, and the extra aluminum "burrs" around the edge of the hole were compressed into a very thin ring of material that stuck to the male die, and squeezed between the post of the male and the hole of the female, causing the die to stick. I grabbed one end with a vise grip and used a pair of pliers on the other - you won't be able to pull them apart, but if you torque them and force them to rotate relative to each other, they will do so rather easily and you can drift them apart.

Make sure you deburr ALL your skin holes!

airguy said:

aluminum "burrs" around the edge of the hole were compressed into a very thin ring of material that stuck to the male die, and squeezed between the post of the male and the hole of the female, causing the die to stick.

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My 3/32 dies would stick together big time if you closed them without a skin between them. No vise grip would get them apart. Upon close inspection I found what looked like a build of of aluminum on the tip of the male die shaped like a donut. After scraping this off the problem went away.