Alex's Vans RV-10 Build Log

I put together a phone/pad stand practice project received from Cleaveland Aircraft Tool when I ordered their RV-10 tool kit. Starting pieces All edges deburred and corners rounded All holes drilled, match drilled and deburred All holes dimpled using DRDT-2 The last steps involved setting the rivets. The instructions recommended attempting to use a bucking bar and rivet gun for some of the rivets, but based on my previous experiences bucking rivets in small parts (hard to keep parts from moving around), I decided to stick to back riveting and squeezing which worked perfectly. These rivets were all back riveted The bottom angle rivets were squeezed... ... as were the two rivets by which the back angle piece is attached Finished kit Overall, I was very happy with how this practice kit turned out. The only issue I had was slightly overbending the center edges using the edge forming tool, including making a mark in the aluminum sheet when starting an edge bend that was way too tight. The ...

1st attempt at Van's Sheet Metal Basics practice kit. I didn't take many photos while assembling this kit, but here are a few of the finished product. Finished piece Front View I wasn't able to pull all the rivets along the bottom due to my manual rivet puller not gripping the stems properly (note the universal head rivets at the ends). Ordered an ATS pneumatic puller from Aircraft Spruce. Top (Outer Surface) View I'm happy with the way the outer surface looks. Side View Notice the pillowing between the two aluminum sheets Lessons Learned Start riveting outwards from the center of a rivet line to minimize pillowing between rivets Make sure to hold the sheets tightly together at corner rivets. The sheet corner tended to bend towards the shop head as I squeezed the rivets there I'll be trying another Sheet Metal Basics kit when one is delivered with my RV-10 empennage kit and comparing the results. Date: April 11 2022 Time Taken: 3.1 hours