Tonight I enlisted the help of my buddy Dave to bash and set a bunch of the big 3/16 (-6) rivets to assemble the main wing spars. For this job I used the 5x rivet gun and set my compressor to deliver 90 psi. The 5x gun worked pretty good for the most part, however as you get closer to the wing root and the 3/16 rivets are 2+ inches long, a 6x gun would have been helpful. The 5x gun was definitely at its maximum capacity and just barely worked.
Another tip for riveting these big rivets is that you really need to keep the gun firmly held against the head of the rivet. If not it will bounce and leave a mark on the head. It’s hard to describe just how much force you need when pushing the gun against the work, but it’s a lot!
During this riveting session, we got through all the rivets on one spar and that was enough for one night. This is definitely fatigueing work. I also really felt it in my arms and shoulders the next day!
Please comment. I love to hear from my readers. Thanks again for coming along for this ride, you make my work worthwhile.
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