My simple dimple die solution
Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2024 2:16 pmHey all,
I'm getting ready to drill the front skin for the wings and did alot of research on here as to the proper process to dimple the holes in the skin and ribs for the flush rivets. Here is a summation of what I found and what is going to work for me.
The plans call for a #31 or 32 drill bit to be used to updrill from the 3/32 pilot holes. After reading alot of techniques and experiences on here with various opinions I decided to "experiment" on my own to learn what I needed to do. I took a piece of scrap 6061 and drilled multiple holes from #30, 1/8, 31,32, and 33 drill bits following the process of updrill to size (30-33), deburr, dimple, then rivet. The #30 hole is clearly too big once dimpled and so is the #31 in my opinion. The #32 is getting close but still a tad too big and I found that like so many mentions on here, that the copper cleco won't fit into a #32 hole and I tried putting the silver ones in and they barely hold..pretty much not at all. However, the #33 size hole allows for the silver clecos to hold the skin and ribs together to maintain good alignment as I'll be updrilling all the pilot holes to #33. This way I shouldn't have to do the process twice of assembling with clecos, drill half the holes to #32, disassemble, dimple, reassemble, and then do the rest.
Also, during this initial process I learned 2 things that I couldn't find on here that I'd like to add. First, I used my Milwaukee electric rivet gun to dimple the holes. Just squeezing the trigger until I see movement works great and doesn't snap the nail or apply too much pressure. This thing is awesome by the way. No air/noise to deal with and it works great for me! No need for a hand squeezer unless I want the workout. The next thing I found out was that the replacement nail needed for the sonex simple dimple is a 4D 1 1/2" nail. I used a flat head as it seems to be more streamlined. The nail that comes with the die is 2" and I couldn't find one of those. However, the 1.5" seems to be working just fine!
I'm getting ready to drill the front skin for the wings and did alot of research on here as to the proper process to dimple the holes in the skin and ribs for the flush rivets. Here is a summation of what I found and what is going to work for me.
The plans call for a #31 or 32 drill bit to be used to updrill from the 3/32 pilot holes. After reading alot of techniques and experiences on here with various opinions I decided to "experiment" on my own to learn what I needed to do. I took a piece of scrap 6061 and drilled multiple holes from #30, 1/8, 31,32, and 33 drill bits following the process of updrill to size (30-33), deburr, dimple, then rivet. The #30 hole is clearly too big once dimpled and so is the #31 in my opinion. The #32 is getting close but still a tad too big and I found that like so many mentions on here, that the copper cleco won't fit into a #32 hole and I tried putting the silver ones in and they barely hold..pretty much not at all. However, the #33 size hole allows for the silver clecos to hold the skin and ribs together to maintain good alignment as I'll be updrilling all the pilot holes to #33. This way I shouldn't have to do the process twice of assembling with clecos, drill half the holes to #32, disassemble, dimple, reassemble, and then do the rest.
Also, during this initial process I learned 2 things that I couldn't find on here that I'd like to add. First, I used my Milwaukee electric rivet gun to dimple the holes. Just squeezing the trigger until I see movement works great and doesn't snap the nail or apply too much pressure. This thing is awesome by the way. No air/noise to deal with and it works great for me! No need for a hand squeezer unless I want the workout. The next thing I found out was that the replacement nail needed for the sonex simple dimple is a 4D 1 1/2" nail. I used a flat head as it seems to be more streamlined. The nail that comes with the die is 2" and I couldn't find one of those. However, the 1.5" seems to be working just fine!