Brief Description: Tried to figure out what I am doing wrong!
Well after conferring with builders online last night and this morning, I think I need a better rivet set so I will order the one from Cleveland tools. It has a small collar that fits the space available for the stiffeners; the head of the set is also flat. The set which I bought from Planetools has a bit of a crown to the rivet set head along with the larger collar. I am also going to try and get together with a local builder this weekend if I fell up to it and see if he can figure out what I am doing wrong. I have also decided to order a new rudder skin and stiffeners. I am not certain it is worth drilling out all the bad rivets (there are a lot of them), also part of my problem might be over deburring which would make the holes a little oversized. Rivets can also clench over due to trying to use a rivet that is too long. Even though the plans call for the flush 3-3.5 rivets I have read that some builders who have run into this same problem have used 3-3 rivets with success. Others have pre-squeezed the rivet before inserting the rivet to make the 3.5 rivets a little shorter and fatter. Hopefully one ore more of these methods will help me; I plan to practice a bit now that I have scrap parts! Well tomorrow is surgery so no telling hoe long before I can build again, I think I am in a cast for two weeks the physical therapy for 4-6 weeks.
