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Which Nut Plate Jigs?

tswanson

Member
I'm looking to get some nut plate jigs and nothing popped up when I searched this topic. Anyone have any recommendations on what size nut plate jigs a person needs to complete an RV-7 QB? I'm still on the empennage, so haven't gotten far enough to understand what nut plates are used where.
 
You can get by with one

If you get a nutplate jig for a number 6 screw that does both double and single wing nut plates, you won’t need any others for an RV build.
Just start with a #28 drill bit for a number 6 screw, drill the lug holes and then drill out the center hole to the correct size for your screw, since the nutplates have the same wing dimension in most cases.
VANs uses almost all #8 nut plates, except for a few larger ones, but you may want to use smaller #6 screws in some places.
Mini nutplates and larger nut plates, like some 1/4” nut plates, are different but for those few you can use the nit plate itself as the jig. A little slower but there aren’t that many in an RV build.

For an example of this type jig, search on the following;
Nut Plate Jig #6 Single Wing Standard 518G
 
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If you get a nutplate jig for a number 6 screw that does both double and single wing nut plates, you won’t need any others for an RV build.
Just start with a #28 drill bit for a number 6 screw, drill the lug holes and then drill out the center hole to the correct size for your screw, since the nutplates have the same wing dimension in most cases.
VANs uses almost all #8 nut plates, except for a few larger ones, but you may want to use smaller #6 screws in some places.
Mini nutplates and larger nut plates, like some 1/4” nut plates, are different but for those few you can use the nit plate itself as the jig. A little slower but there aren’t that many in an RV build.

For an example of this type jig, search on the following;
Nut Plate Jig #6 Single Wing Standard 518G

I would agree in concept with Steve. Only difference is that I had one with a #40 pilot instead of a #6 screw pilot. It worked fine. I had plenty of other jigs obtained through an ebay tool purchase. Used them some but the #40 piloted one was my go to. Either one would work I think.
 
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I just purchased the #6 variant one from ACS - it's a #6 which will do both single and double lugs (if that's the right terminology). I'm installing empennage tips with #6 screws.

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Gee, I just use another nutplate. Put a screw or a cleco in to hold it, drill one rivet hole. Drop a cleco in there, drill the other. Once in a while, rivet the nutplate to the airframe and use another one as the tool.

Why bother with a special tool?

Dave
 
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me too

I just use a nut plate. Take a standard machine screw, put a nut on it, drill the screw hole, thread screw into nut plate a couple of threads, run the nut down to hold it, drill away...

No muss, no fuss, no wrenches required...
 
As above .., use nutplate itself for a few places, swapping out before the #40 holes get wallowed out by the drill bit. I use a screw ground down to a couple threads to hold it. Flare on screw keeps everything well centered.
 
Get #6 & #8

I used both the #6 & #8 jigs quite a lot while building my QB 7A. I agree that the one's that ones that can do both the 2 lug & single lug nutplates are very handy.

I respect the folks that like to use the nutplate itself a the jig but IMHO it's tons easier using the nutplate jig tool. Do 20 using the jig and 20 using the nutplate and tell me which way you want to do the next 20..

Slightly off topic but when I built my 12, I was amazed to find all 3 nutplate hole prepunched. All you needed to do was final drill and de-burr and you could rivet the nutplate in place. Hardly used the jigs at all while building the 12.
 
The Deutsch guns are the way to go, you could do 20 in the time it takes to do 1 with a nutplate jig :D
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/topages/nutplate.php

nutplate.jpg
 
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Nut Plate Drilling Jig ?

I built my whole plane using a a nut plate drilling jig called a nut plate. I didn?t even know there was such a thing. Seems llke the holes on the jig would get larger and sloppier the more you used it. Just using the nut plate your going to install seems like the easiest, most accurate way to go. Just make sure you cleco the holes as you go to keep it aligned. Never had any problems this way. Oh no, maybe all of mine are wrong.:eek:
 
Never used a nut plate jig. Just use a nut plate itself. On the M2, almost all are 6-32 screws so drill hole w/ #28 drill first, wind the nutplate down on the screw and drill the wing holes #40. Debur and rivet. Done. With the folding wing, I prob have 5-600 nutplates for stuff thats usually riveted.

For those of you worried about wallowing out the wing holes, forget your worries (within reason of course). Nut plates torque against the rivets in shear, not strain, so as long as you fill the wallowed hole with your squeezed rivet, it wont go anywhere - ever. You really only need one wing rivet to secure the nutplate, so the second one is just "turning" insurance - but good to have none the less.
 
Gee, I just use another nutplate. Put a screw or a cleco in to hold it, drill one rivet hole. Drop a cleco in there, drill the other. Once in a while, rivet the nutplate to the airframe and use another one as the tool.

Why bother with a special tool?

Dave

I just use a nut plate. Take a standard machine screw, put a nut on it, drill the screw hole, thread screw into nut plate a couple of threads, run the nut down to hold it, drill away...

No muss, no fuss, no wrenches required...

I built my whole plane using a a nut plate drilling jig called a nut plate. I didn?t even know there was such a thing. Seems llke the holes on the jig would get larger and sloppier the more you used it. Just using the nut plate your going to install seems like the easiest, most accurate way to go. Just make sure you cleco the holes as you go to keep it aligned. Never had any problems this way. Oh no, maybe all of mine are wrong.:eek:

Never used a nut plate jig. Just use a nut plate itself. On the M2, almost all are 6-32 screws so drill hole w/ #28 drill first, wind the nutplate down on the screw and drill the wing holes #40. Debur and rivet. Done. With the folding wing, I prob have 5-600 nutplates for stuff thats usually riveted.

For those of you worried about wallowing out the wing holes, forget your worries (within reason of course). Nut plates torque against the rivets in shear, not strain, so as long as you fill the wallowed hole with your squeezed rivet, it wont go anywhere - ever. You really only need one wing rivet to secure the nutplate, so the second one is just "turning" insurance - but good to have none the less.
Ditto on all counts. Just another tool that will collect dust. Besides, there will be places that jig won't fit and you will use a nutplate and screw anyway.
 
OMG. Yes, you can walk uphill to school barefooted in the snow. :D

Of course you can use a nutplate and cleco instead of a jig. Did that early in construction.

Jigs are faster and easier to keep the new holes oriented the way you want.
A must have? Certainly not. Nice to have. Yup.
 
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I don?t see a price, but I am guessing that with a name like Deutsch, you could use all ClickBond nutplates And come out ahead - and save a LOT of time!

Only $4565, this drill all 3 holes at once so as fast as you can move it you can have a perfectly drilled holes. Wayyyy faster than clickbond.
 
Only $4565, this drill all 3 holes at once so as fast as you can move it you can have a perfectly drilled holes. Wayyyy faster than clickbond.

But you still have to countersink for, and squeeze, rivets to mount a regular nut plate.

ClickBond - one hole, squirt adhesive, pull the fixture through the hole - done!
 
I built three planes using the nutplates as a jig. Then I used a nutplate jig for the next 8 planes. It is a lot faster and more accurate in my opinion. I use just one tool set up for the most common #8 nutplate this works for all standard nutplates you just have to drill the centre hole out for larger screws.
Accuracy is as good now as it was when new.
 
After using the nutplates as a jig, I thought I'd try a jig so I bought one. As Mr. Martin said, it's a whole lot faster and much more accurate. It's one of those things I bought and thought, wow....why didn't I get one of these sooner? I now have 3.
 
Thanks everyone. Although it sounds like the consensus it can be done without with similar results, I'm a big fan of having good tools if they make life easier at all. I'll get a couple ordered.

Thanks!
 
Hole size

New build question

Searching for a chart on what size the center hole for a certain nut plate

Example K1000-4 nut plate the center hole get drilled to a final size ???

I’m struggling with the terminology of the bolt sizes drill sizes etc..

Thanks
 
Nutplates

New build question

Searching for a chart on what size the center hole for a certain nut plate

Example K1000-4 nut plate the center hole get drilled to a final size ???

I’m struggling with the terminology of the bolt sizes drill sizes etc..

Thanks

I don't recall a chart. Maybe someone will post.
For now, here's the common ones.
Nutplate=bolt=drill
K1000-06= #6=#29
K1000-08=#8=#19
K1000-3=3/16"=#12
K1000-4=1/4"=1/4"
K1000-5=5/16"=5/16"
K1000-6=3/8"=3/8"
 
I don't recall a chart. Maybe someone will post.
For now, here's the common ones.
Nutplate=bolt=drill
K1000-06= #6=#29
K1000-08=#8=#19
K1000-3=3/16"=#12
K1000-4=1/4"=1/4"
K1000-5=5/16"=5/16"
K1000-6=3/8"=3/8"

#29 drill is too small for a #6 screw. Use a #27 or #28 drill (~ 9/64")
 
Guess

#29 drill is too small for a #6 screw. Use a #27 or #28 drill (~ 9/64")

I guessed. Actually, I usually put a caliper on the bolt before grabbing a bit just to be sure. I usually drill about .010 small and ream to final.
 
Only $4565, this drill all 3 holes at once so as fast as you can move it you can have a perfectly drilled holes. Wayyyy faster than clickbond.

<Cough Cough> Up to $5200 per gun now!! Almost 5% per year! The guns are better investments than any bank CD right now.. lol....
 
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