Pneumatic Squeezer

Just a little question concerning the use of my squeezer. I really like to put the fixed jaw on the manufactured head and form the shop head with the plunger side. It seems to make alot better shop head in this fashion. Some places that's not possible. Is there any special method or instructions that would make better shop heads with the fixed side of the squeezer that those of you that have gone before could impart?

Thanks for the help.

Paul
91300 emp.

I have never had any problems with the squeezed shop head with mine. I set it up both ways - whichever makes it easier to get at the rivet. Always make sure that everything is square

I'm TOTALLY inexperienced with this sort of stuff as I'm still working on the emp. Here's what I found works for me, though...

If I have the pressure turned up to 90, the trigger's really hard to control. As the squeezer pushes away, it's really tough staying straight with the manufactured head. I found that as long as I stay straight with the manufactured head the shop head takes care of itself (YMMV...this is what works for me). So I turned the pressure down to about 70 psi. My squeezer really doesn't seem to care what the pressure is....I have to squeeze most of the 1/8" rivets twice anyway with a 1/4 turn on the adjustable set to finish it off regardless of pressure....maybe I have a crappy squeezer...I dunnu. I just do a whole line, twist 1/4 turn and finish them off...it only takes an extra minute or two. With the pressure way down, I can feather the trigger to where i'm just touching, make any last alignment adjustments to the squeezer, then go to town.

Once again, this is just what happens to work for me.

Longeron yoke

Grab a longeron yoke. It'll let you do a lot more of the "plunger side forms shop head" stuff. And more practice with your C yoke will get you where you need to be with that yoke. It'll come with practice. Just keep it aligned with the rivet.

FWIW, I disabled the SAFETY on my pneumatic squeezer. You used to have to push up and then actuate the trigger. I just push/tease the trigger.

Something else to try is holding the work in a vise, or clamped to the bench. Then you can get both hands on the squeezer.

Or use the C-frame to rivet. You can generally do that with one hand on the rivet gun, one hand holding the work.

There are at least 40 ways to set every rivet in your plane...

)_( Dan
RV-7 N714D (715 hours)
http://www.rvproject.com

Whichever way you choose to rivet, the important thing is to make sure you have pressure against the manufactured head of the rivet before squeezing.
As already stated, the alignment is also critical to good riveting.

In another effort to increase the build time on my project, I have cut poly tubing into short pieces that I place over the bucktails. The tubing stands slightly higher than the rivet so that when the squeezer contacts the tubing, it tightens the sheet materials before the rivet begins to expand.

It's probably unnecessary but it does make nice tight joints.

-Mike