Dealing with hinges

I am very close to finishing up the elevators on my -10 and while riveting the trim tabs to the trailing edge I'm finding it difficult to keep the hinge straight enough to get the pin back in.
Is there a trick to keeping the hinge barrels straight enough to get the pin back in easily? I didn't crush any of the barrels or anything, but just riveting seems to distort the soft metal just enough to cause a lot of frustration.

Sharpen the tip of the hing pin.

upperdeck said:

Sharpen the tip of the hing pin.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I'll give that a try!

Not TOO sharp ...

upperdeck said:

Sharpen the tip of the hing pin.

Click to expand...

I've found that 'too sharp' is also bad, and it needs to be symmetrically shaped. It's along the general shape of a 30.06 bullet, ICBM nose cone, or likewise. The very point should be rounded as opposed to 'pin sharp'.

Keep a pin in the hinge while drilling, and squeezing the rivets, and if it's the mating surface, use another mating half long enough to rivet that component (elev, aileron, trim tab).

You can always bend the eyes a little for alignment in two directions but alignment can be degraded by a bump (hangar rash). You can insert a pin and spin (while retracting/inserting) with a drill to give it a little wear, too. It will be moved a lot in flight but solely concentric.

During first assembly (after rivets) try to insert slowly and see where the tightness occurs, make tweaks and continue. Remember when the flap is retracted the hinge is flat, but when extended it is 45 degs to the other half. Insertion of the pin for assembly may be very tight at 90 degs, but perfect when flat.

Experience of the builder ...

Had the same problem

I think it helps if you start riveting at the center, then do every second or third rivet to the ends, followed by putting in the rivets in between. The expansion of the squeezed rivets leads to some curving of the hinge if every rivet is done in sequence. Also make sure you do not get any of the eyelets deformed by the squeezer!!
Johan

Try Boelube on the pin

I also had the same problem. I put some Boelube on the pin and it went in much easier.

Always rivet hinges with the pin (or a scrap) in. For the first half, I try to have the other half attached and at a right angle to the half being riveted. This can be more difficult for the second half, since the first half will now have an airplane part attached. However, sometimes planning will let you get away with it or you can use some scrap hinge as a substitute. Having an assembled hinge with the flanges at 90 degrees to each other helps keep the hinge line straight along the hinge axis. It's not perfect, though, and for long hinge lines it's better if you can manage to have the hinge at least clecoed to both surfaces to maintain the best alignment.

I second the Boelube.

I just used lps. Any lube makes a big difference. Wd40 is not lube.