Brief Description: Built a stand for riveting the horizontal stab
Finding it very difficult to both see and reach inside the horizontal stab with the bucking bar, I decided to build a temporary stand to hold the structure vertically. The top edge of the stabilizer is about 32" when held in the stand so the bucker can reach inside and still see the shop side of the rivets. The riveter can sit on the short stool and comfortably reach all the spar and rib rivet heads. I think this will work much better than attempting to rivet the assembly with it laying on the work bench.
The stand was constructed from scrap lumber. This is where some of the general purpose tools in the shop really come in handy. In this case, I used a Craftsman portable table saw to rip and cut the stand components to proper size and then fastened together with appropriate wood screws. The edges of the frame which come into contact with the skin are covered with duct tape and the cross-member where the stabilizer rests are covered with bubble-wrap and duct tape to protect against any marring of the aluminum surface.
The second picture shows a small plate used to tie the rear of the stabilizer together until the rear spar is clecoed in place and riveted. It was made out of some shop scrap used earlier to practice riveting. It serves to stabilize the assembly and eliminates the bending force on the front spar while the unit sits in the stand.
