This post is intended to summarize thoughts and things learned during the build process.
Hardware
At the very start of my build, I didn’t know much about anything in terms of tools, metal, rivets and well – basically everything concerning the build process of airplanes. That changed dramatically, but it will only do this if you care to learn and put the time in the project.
If you are a new builder, you may find it hard to know the just the basics of how to prepare metal sheets for the purpose of building an airframe. At least I had to start at zero. Others may be well ahead having built ‘things’ of metal prior to building an aircraft.
Tools
I did what I thought would be the best solution and what I also (after about a year) have seen others choosen to do. I bought a toolkit from Cleaveland Tools. Here’s a link to their toolkit for RV10. The price was (when I bought the tools) about $4,500 including shipping.
It’s daunting to just understand what you need and why, but I will try to give some information. I still do not know half of everything, but I’m happy to share what I have concluded up till now.
The first choice if going for a kit from Cleaveland Tools, is to chose your drill
There are no choices, so you will get this one if you will go for a kit. I personally like this pneumatic drill. It’s really lightweight and easy to use. It’s also quite easy (after some learning curve) to drill in the speed you like or need. And – it’s powerful enough for most holes needed to be drilled. So far.
What I do like to say, is that there are several times that I tend to pick up the electrical (battery driven) drill I have used for many years doing work at home. The reason being that it is just next to me. No need to change whatever is connected to my compressor at the time, and more than anything, I do not need to listen to either the compressor running at intervals, nor the high pitch sound of a pneumatic drill. But when doing work that requires ear protection, I most often use this drill as it is very small and handy opposed to a battery driven powerful equivalence.
The next choice is the Bench Dimpler. I had no clue at all what this tool was used for prior to purchasing the toolkit. So out of the two options below, I choose the budget version (C-FRAME):
The C-frame version is priced (when writing) $325. Link to the dimpler here.
BUT – just a few weeks after receiving the dimpler and understandning what I was supposed to do with it I changed my mind and bought the larger one as well. So to explain. What you are expecting to do with this tool is to make small dimples in the metal sheet so that when you are setting a rivet of the AN426 typ (meaning a rivet which is flat on the top, and coned under the head) – you will need this dimple in the metal to accomodate for the cone under the head of the rivet). See image of AN426-rivet below.
The other type of rivet you will use a lot of is the Universal Head rivets (AN470). See image below:
After using them bothm I’d say that buying the DRDT2 model (link here) is the far better choice in terms of getting the exact same results every single dimple.
And the last choice is what Squeezer you would like. You can chose from manual and pneumatic, and there are two types (currently) to chose from in both categories. I would never chose a manual one. It’s just not for me, so I can’t tell you anything to have a comparison. I’m just a lazy man, wanting to use the tools which will most probably give me the most probable identical result, time after time.
My choice was the Pneumatic Squeezer – No Yoke – SNB214. If I had the option of buying the Numatx 3K Squeezer System – No Yoke – SNMTX3K when I bought my kit, I would have. No doubt. Due to the weight. Because the one I choose is heavy to hold for longer periods of time, and certainly in positions were you easily get tired in your arm.
The “Yoke” by the way, is the ‘hook’ on the top of the squeezer. There are different kind of hooks (yokes) due to the different needs you may have. Some reaching far over a metal sheet, and some will be used if you have a 90 degree angle at the edge of the metal sheet so that the gap is wider in the yoke and also can accomodate for this with a bend at the end of the yoke.
Below are a few different yokes to understand the difference between them. The 3″ is shorter than the 4″ yoke, and will not reach as far, for instance. But the 4″ is so large that it may not fit to use everywhere as there are tight spaces you need to work in. And the one with an extra bend at the opening, is used when a metal sheet has a 90 degree bend in the sheet which you need to move passed and squeeze a rivet behind this bend.
So these are the choices you will need to make, and then you will get a lot more tools which are not a choice. Just tools you will need. Everything from drillbits, bucking bars (heavy metal to hold on the opposite side of a rivet when using a rivet gun that hits the head – to compress the rivet), squeezer cups (for the squeezer so that you can squeeze different types of rivets (AN426/AN470), and different sizes (width, length)), rivet gun, rivet guage (to see if you squeezed/hit the rivet enough), dimple die sets (to make dimples of different sizes in the metal sheet), pliers of different kinds, cleco (metal sheet fastners which will hold the metal in place) and much much more..
I have a separate section for this on the homepage here. The section is under development constantly throughout the build.
Rivets, bolts, etc…
For a newbie, the rivets, bolts and fastners etc. was crucial to understand, and not very hard either – but still.. You need the knowledge to easier read the instructions and understanding what to do/use.
A simple guide to Rivets and the meaning of the parts in their names;
Example:
AN426AD3-4
AN = Air Force-Navy Standard
426 = Type of head (where 426 = 100° countersunk)
AD = Material (AD=Aluminium – where A is soft, AD is medium hard, D is hard, DD is very hard, B is corrosion resistant, C is copper and E is nickel)
3 = Diameter (X x 1/32″, in this case 3 x 1/32 = 3/32″ = 2,38mm)
4 = Length (X x 1/16″, in this case 4 x 1/16 = 4/16″ = 1/4″ = 6,35mm)
We now know that this is a medium hard aluminium rivet used for countersunk holes and it has flat head. The diameter is 3/32″ (or 2,38mm) and the length is 1/4″ (or 6,35mm). See the section above for an example of how they look (under the choice of dimpler tool).
470 is another head, and this head is a “Universal Head” rivet. That is the only difference often seen in the instructions (except for width and length ofcourse). The rivet in the example above could easily be called AN470AD3-4 and be an exact same type of rivet except for the head. Normally all visible rivets (not all – but most) will be 426 rivets. Especially on the airframe (skins foremost). But if you were to look at a Cessna, you would fins a lot of 470-rivets. It’s a look! And – having said that, the rivets which are hidden in the airframe is mostly 470-rivets, but can be 426. Most often it will be 426 rivets for clearence purposes so that it won’t stick out for any reason. But there are several times where you still will go for a countersunk hole and set a 426 rivet every now and again.
So – let’s move on the the only rivets I knew from before. The Pop-rivets. Or “Blind rivets” which they also are called.
The names are built from:
[Manufacturer code] [Type of head] [Material] [Diameter] [Length]
or
[Manufacturer code]-[Material]-[Measurements]
Example:
CR3213-4-5
CR = Cherry Rivet
32 = CherryMAX Pop Rivet-series
1 = Type of head (1 = universal head, 0 = countersunk head)
3 = Material code (monel body with steel mandrel)
4 = Diameter (4/32″ = 1/8″ = 3,2mm)
5 = Grip length (5/16″ = 7,9mm)
You will not need to know all the rivets by heart. Not at all. But there is reasons for understanding how they build the name of the rivets, making it much easier for you to understand what you are looking for on your workbench or in a shelf. 🙂
A simple guide to Bolts and the meaning of the parts in their names;
When it comes to bolts and their names, it’s much of the same information in the names as I mentioned earlier. Take a look at this one for example;
AN3-5A
AN = Air Force-Navy Standard
3 = Diameter (3/16″)
5 = Length (5/8″ not including the head)
A = regular bolt without hole in head or shaft (A = no hole, H = hole in shaft, no letter = hole in head)
But ofcourse there are other kind of bolts and name standards.
Here’s another example:
NAS6604-D15
NAS = National Aerospace Standard (more modern and precise bolt than AN-bolts)
66 = Series/Type (precision bolt with 160,000 psi tensile strength, cadmium plated)
04 = Diameter (4/16″ = 1/4″) thread diameter
D = Material code (D = corrosion resistant)
15 = Length (15/16″) total length under head
So, NAS and AN is just two different standards, and NAS is the more recent/modern and precise bolt type.