I read on-line where folks were using an electric soldering gun to remove the protective plastic from skins in localized areas and here I am doing the same in image 1. My experience is that it works well, however, it is important to buff the edges of the heating element to make sure there are no sharp edges because the steel tip will scratch the soft clad aluminum. Probably not a big deal if you plan to paint over it with a filler primer but probably not a good thing if you are thinking of having a buffed aluminum airplane. I back-riveted the stiffeners onto the elevators using my steel plate and back rivet set. This time, however, I had previously dimpled the skins instead of using the rivet to form the dimple. I can't see any difference in the results. Both methods result in a nice flush rivet head.
Using Electric Soldering Gun to Remove Plastic Coating
