Leading edge dimple die

[samiam]

No one else has mentioned it, so I'll throw it out there:

http://www.cleavelandtool.com/Dimple-Di ... UrULbZJlaQ

Haven't used it personally, but my guess is that this would give you the highest quality dimples.

For a lower cost solution, the simple die works fine, but it does take longer.

[rizzz]

Here’s my 2 cents,

I used the Sonex dimple dies for all dimpling required and experimented with different drill sizes to get the best result.
In the end I found that drilling at #34, deburring and then dimpling to give me the best results (drilling at #32 before dimpling still leaves too large a hole I found).
You’re left with a perfect dimpled hole which will 99% of the time accept a rivet as-is, only sometimes a little extra enlarging using a #30 bit was required.

[N814W]

Thanks for the heads-up on the DIENQ dimple dies gents - much appreciated! On the Cleveland "simple dimple dies", should one go with the 3/32" dies and dimple from #40 pilot drilled holes and then drill to final size, or get the 1/8" dies and dimple to final size from a larger? hole as described by Mike above?

[NWade]

Thanks for the heads-up on the DIENQ dimple dies gents - much appreciated! On the Cleveland "simple dimple dies", should one go with the 3/32" dies and dimple from #40 pilot drilled holes and then drill to final size, or get the 1/8" dies and dimple to final size from a larger? hole as described by Mike above?

Personally, I think dimpling should be the _last_ step in the process - and its certainly how I made thousands of dimples on my all-flush-pulled-rivet Sonex.

The reason for this? Burrs. If you drill after you dimple, you are going to leave a burr. It may be a small one, but its there. And once you dimple a hole, your standard deburring tools will not fit into the angled/dimpled area to properly deburr both sides of the hole.

If you updrill and deburr first, then you can perform the dimpling operation and the result is a very nice smooth dimpled hole that's ready for a fastener.

Good luck,

--Noel
Sonex #1339

[jowens]

I flush riveted my wings minus the main spar and hinges.
I upsized the holes with a #33 bit after disassembly then
used the sonex simple dimple with a standard head nail (versus a finish nail). A #33 hole was an intentional tight fit for the nail and slowed down the process. I had to frequently file the teeth marks off the nail. I really like Jeff Shultz's idea of using two underside dimples to dimple two locations before resetting the dimple locations. The ugly part of the job was to reduce or eliminate the deformation around the dimple on the polished skin. To do this I place a piece of steel on the back side of the skin dimple and firmly pressed my thumbs down around the dimple. My quality check was to move my nose reflection over the dimple and if the reflection didn't deform too much I called it good. I suggest to polish before you dimple.

[DCASonex]

Here’s my 2 cents,

I used the Sonex dimple dies for all dimpling required and experimented with different drill sizes to get the best result.
In the end I found that drilling at #34, deburring and then dimpling to give me the best results (drilling at #32 before dimpling still leaves too large a hole I found).
You’re left with a perfect dimpled hole which will 99% of the time accept a rivet as-is, only sometimes a little extra enlarging using a #30 bit was required.

Problem with using a #34 drill is that 1/8" Clecos usually will not fit. That make usual procedure of assembling with 3/2" Clecos and removing and replacing with 1/8" as one moves along before disassembling and dimpling, difficult at best. A proper dimple die that does not over stretch the material and holds a snug hole with a #32 bit solves the problem.

David A.