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ream #30 holes

B

bobnoffs

Well Known Member
hi all,
i am sure i am the only one with undersize #30 holes but you may find another use for this........i picked up a small 1/4'' chuck that has a 6 sided shank to fit in an electric screwdriver. now the reamer turns slow instead of drill speed as the holes only need a 10,000 or 2.
#30 drill shank or rivit won't fit into my holes when a single hole is checked. not a matter of misaligned holes.
 
Bob, you are not the only one. The #30 reamer is your friend. Keep several of them around.:D
 
As I recall - -

5 years ago, some of us decided a 1/8" Ice-pick worked well. Just push it into the hole, then install a rivet. Seemed to work well.
 
An ice pick is not going to help in Bob's situation. It is not an alignment problem. Rather, the holes are undersize, probably due to worn punches being utilized by Van's during manufacture of the various parts. I have ran into that issue on both my empenage and wing kits. Like Dave12 says, the reamer is your friend.

Alex
 
With my build about 90% of the time an ice pick in the hole, a couple of turns, and the rivet slides right in. If that doesn't work then I reach for my reamer.

Jim
 
alexe said:
An ice pick is not going to help in Bob's situation. It is not an alignment problem. Rather, the holes are undersize, probably due to worn punches being utilized by Van's during manufacture of the various parts. I have ran into that issue on both my empenage and wing kits. Like Dave12 says, the reamer is your friend.

Alex
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Given how thin some of the aluminum we're working with is, I am not convinced that the ice pick/awl isn't also enlarging the hole, even in cases where it is presumed that holes are actually being brought into better alignment.
 
alexe said:
An ice pick is not going to help in Bob's situation. It is not an alignment problem. Rather, the holes are undersize, probably due to worn punches being utilized by Van's during manufacture of the various parts. I have ran into that issue on both my empenage and wing kits. Like Dave12 says, the reamer is your friend.

Alex
Click to expand...

Correct, mine was very rarely a problem with alignment. The ice pick was very helpful, after the reaming.:cool:
 
Dgamble said:
Given how thin some of the aluminum we're working with is, I am not convinced that the ice pick/awl isn't also enlarging the hole, even in cases where it is presumed that holes are actually being brought into better alignment.
Click to expand...

Dave, I think you may have mentioned this on your blog. I've noticed that even though it may be a bit of a struggle to get the initial rivets in place, once pulled and the remaining clecos removed, the rivets will often times drop right into place in the remaining holes. That would indicate to me that there can, at times, be a bit of an alignment issue as well as hole size.

Jim
 
Jim T said:
Dave, I think you may have mentioned this on your blog. I've noticed that even though it may be a bit of a struggle to get the initial rivets in place, once pulled and the remaining clecos removed, the rivets will often times drop right into place in the remaining holes. That would indicate to me that there can, at times, be a bit of an alignment issue as well as hole size.

Jim
Click to expand...
Yes, that happens too. On some of the larger skins, I would go cleco-by-cleco from one side to the other and would definitely see the previously unaligned holes come together. I think I called it "Cleco coercion."

I think in the most common cases, the amount of material removed by reaming or whatever is minuscule and that wiggling an awl in the hole(s) could be performing the same function of physically widening the hole and/or moving the parts into better alignment. I ended up using a mixture of both techniques.
 
I used a tapered punch and gave it a couple of turns. That was usually enough. Sometimes I had to twirl a drill bit in the hole with my fingers. I rarely had to drill the hole with a hand drill.
 
thanks for the input, glad to hear i am not alone but doesn't anyone think the 1/4'' chuck that fits into a power screwdriver is slick?
 
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