Brief Description: Riveting the rear VS spar (problems)
I did some more riveting on the vertical stabilizer tonight. However, I realized that "Houston, we have a problem.." Apparently, the adjustable set holder in my pneumatic squeezer got bent somehow. I think this may have happened when I was first driving some of the larger rivets. By not having the spacing between the dies set up properly, I might have inadvertently bent the set holder. The effects of this became apparent when I inspected the factory heads on some of the rivets I had just driven. There were very deep smiles present on the rear VS spar skin, where the dies came together at a slight angle. The smiles don't penetrate through the skin, but are deep enough for me to be concerned about stress risers in the material. I will have to investigate this further and come up with a solution. One thing is clear though.. With Oshkosh quickly approaching, and my pneumatic squeezer in pieces on my bench, there won't be any more riveting anytime soon. Darn!
I should have been paying more attention to the factory heads!
