Comment

Comment by John Burns on July 2, 2023 at 8:37am

I made a similar tool.  I called it a rivet wiggler.  If I had to push it usually resulted in a problem with the piece behind the sheet, but there are times when your fingers get tired of inserting those rivets.  I usually only had to drill out a hole if it was multiple layers.  I had the older kit with just pilot holes.

Comment by Alexander Samoylovich on June 30, 2023 at 4:20pm

It is my first project. I am leaning. 

Putting the rivets should nor require any force. In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. I suspect despite the number of clecos the sheets may slightly misalign because the cleco diameter is smaller than the corresponding rivet diameter. Both on the Zenith Rudder Workshop and in Homebuilt Help videos some rivets required a persuasion. Not all, just some. Some people recommend to redrill such stubborn places with the proper size drill. 

Comment by John Reed on June 30, 2023 at 7:30am

Cool tool,...but I'm not sure why you're having the need to "drive " any rivets in the first place?

I'm building from a kit with almost all ' match hole drilled ' parts. 

After de-buring holes and edges, priming or Cor-tec where indicated,  I rarely need to force a rivet in any way. 

Every once in a while I might need to 'message ' one, or perhaps de-burr a little more but I haven't had the need to force one with a tool, much less the riveter head . I'm pretty new to aluminum fabrication myself, but I'm fairly sure that forcing rivets is not an appropriate construction method. 

Have fun and good luck with your project!