After two weeks away it was good to get back into the shed for a while today. First up I spray painted the inside surfaces of both elevator skins with acid etch primer. This was easier said than done as trying to hold the skins apart was quite tricky. I ended up hanging the skin from a beam, and then hung a weight off the opposite side to hold the surfaces apart (see picture below).
After the paint had dried I then back-riveted the stiffeners to the top skin of the right elevator, which went well. I wish I could back-rivet everything as it is easy to do, and leaves a very neatly set rivet.
The next step is to rivet the elevator spar to the top skin. I set the rivets near the hinge bracket openings using the hand squeezer, however all the others are very difficult. I clamped the bottom skin down to the benchtop (bottom picture below) which allowed me to pull the top skin and spar assembly up enough to get a bucking bar in behind.
I managed to set a few rivets but decided this is best done with another set of hands. Brother Steve is up here in a few days time, so I think I'll leave this until then.
Holding the left elevator skin apart to spray paint the inside surface
Right elevator top stiffeners riveted in place
Very awkward trying to hold the elevator skin apart to rivet in the spar
