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Skin never looked so good!

blueflyer

blueflyer

Well Known Member
It felt good to get the skins (temporarily) on and the cradles made for the leading edges. I never thought seeing skin cleco'ed on the skeleton would do so much for my building attitude. I am still amazed that I am building an airplane.

 
Woo-hoo! Next thing you know you'll be looking for a place to get those darn wings out of the way so you can make room for the fuse!
 
JanRV6UK said:
It gets better when you start riveting it all on :)
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Yea, I am looking forward to it. I just bought a big round bucking bar and wrapped it for my wife. When she opened it, she looked at it for about 5 seconds, then she looked at me, serious as can be, and said, "why would you ever think I would want a paper weight for a gift?"
 
You should one up yourself and give your wife a tungsten bucking bar, it's got a whole lot more mass in a smaller shape. Fits in almost everywhere. Maybe even a better paperweight! Once I discovered these, about halfway through my build, I never used the other bars. I did back rivet my top skins too and was real happy with the results.
Keep pounding! It's all so worth it!
 
PCWebb said:
You should one up yourself and give your wife a tungsten bucking bar, it's got a whole lot more mass in a smaller shape. Fits in almost everywhere. Maybe even a better paperweight! Once I discovered these, about halfway through my build, I never used the other bars. I did back rivet my top skins too and was real happy with the results.
Keep pounding! It's all so worth it!
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sshhhh! I have a tungsten bar tucked away that I currently use! I am worried she may put a ding in the wing with my tungsten bar.
 
I back riveted the top skin on my left wing, and quite frankly am not thrilled with the results. I had to use a double offset back rivet set, and far too many of the shop heads are not straight. They're not bent over enough to justify drilling them out, but I'm just not too happy with them.

On the right wing we've been using a large mushroom set with a rubber ring, and a tungsten bar on the inside. The results on the shop heads have been far better, and the flush heads are just as good as the other wing. Maybe someone else has had better luck back riveting skins on, but I won't do it again.
 
DaleB said:
I back riveted the top skin on my left wing, and quite frankly am not thrilled with the results. I had to use a double offset back rivet set, and far too many of the shop heads are not straight. They're not bent over enough to justify drilling them out, but I'm just not too happy with them.

On the right wing we've been using a large mushroom set with a rubber ring, and a tungsten bar on the inside. The results on the shop heads have been far better, and the flush heads are just as good as the other wing. Maybe someone else has had better luck back riveting skins on, but I won't do it again.
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yep, I've been reading the archives on this issue. Some have success with the double offset back rivet approach, some prefer the mushroom set with the bucking bar on the inside. I am looking forward to determining which method I prefer!
 
+1 for the mushroom set with rubber boot. Was able to train helpers to use the gun in about 20 minutes, and then breezed through the whole process. Advantage is that you can reach ALL the rivets with the bucking bar, and with the rubber boot, the mushroom set is very forgiving. I had zero incidents, using 3 different newbie riveters. My skins feel flawless, if I do say so myself, and didn't need to remove a single rivet. Definitely try both for yourself if you like, just know that you can get great results without back riveting.
 
Before you decide against backriveting, here's my experience and what I learned.

The key to getting good results with the double-offset backriveting method is to turn the air pressure way up. I cranked it up to about 80 lbs. and then got excellent results. I'm using a 3X rivet gun. A 2X gun may need even more pressure. Consider the size and weight of the rivet set. It's much more than the ones you're used to using. You're moving a lot more mass and you need more air pressure. If you use the usual lower pressure setting that you are accustomed to using with 3/32" rivets, you will be frustrated and a lot of them will be bent over or not look good. With the higher air pressure, the backriveting method works like a dream! My wing skins came out flawless, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

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Here's another shot, with all the blue vinyl removed, so you can see how nice the rivets turned out. I was mating the wings to the fuselage at the time:

CIMG5348.JPG
 
Hey Bruce, I always check your site (along with a few others) when looking ahead at my next steps, so I was glad to see your post and pictures of your results.

I think I'm going to try the back rivet method first and see what happens. Mostly because I have that big round bucking bar for my wife and I believe that will be the easiest thing for her.
 
Thanks, JR!

Yes, I would agree, that big bucking bar would be best for her. She can hold it nice and flat and really press it on the skin, and you'll be fine. I'd practice with her on some scrap for a few rivets first, just to check your air pressure and methodology. Turn that air pressure way up. Then go for it!

If you decide to go back to conventional riveting, no condemnation. Either way, you'll end up with some wings that can fly and you'll be happy.

Keep us posted on the results, will you?
 
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