by jeff0196 » Mon Jan 22, 2018 3:44 pm
I think you might be overthinking this a little. Just like Bryan said, dimpling a #30 hole doesn't automatically mean it won't work. Best practice would obviously have been the smaller drill bit. However, the difference in dimple angle between sonex style rivets and the rest of aviation rivets isn't a perfect solution either.
I recommend drilling and dimpling holes in a test part first. Use a sonex flush rivet and see if it expands to fill the larger hole. Rivet joints are much different than bolted joints in this respect. Rivets ARE designed to expand a small amount while being set to fill the hole they are in while bolts do not. Bolted holes being tight is much greater an issue. That's why we can get away with a number 30 and not an 1/8" drill in the first place. It would be no fun to need to tap in line on line fit rivets in every hole before pulling them. I did not have a hole wing leading edge with #30 holes, but I did have a few in other areas. Just like Bryan, I found the sonex flush rivets to fill them just fine.
Jeffrey W
Waiex 0196
AeroVee Turbo