Hand dimpler/riveter
Aaron Smith
-Aaron
Dave Hyde
> I need one 36" deep x 6" tall. Any ideas?
Avery (or equivalent) C-Frame dimpler. Most
any RV-builder in your area will have one.
Dave 'up your street' Hyde
na...@brick.net
Dave Hyde
36" deep. More like 20". Sorry.
Dave 'two fingers' Hyde
ma...@brick.net
Bob Kuykendall
> I need one 36" deep x 6" tall. Any ideas?
3 feet is a longer throat than you're going to find in a manufactured
dimple setup.
Your options are basically:
* If you don't need to dimple that many holes that are that deep, get
a "pop dimple die" set you squeeze using a pop riveter and some
finishing nails. An example would be the ACS #17014 for 1/8" rivets.
Others (probably Avery, Brown, and ATS) will have the same thing in
different shank sizes and countersink angles. For example, the ATS
unit shown on this page:
(cut-and-paste to put URL all on one line if necessary)
* If you do rather a handful of holes, you can get a drive-and-anvil
set that you use with your 3/16" shank dimple dies and a rivet gun (or
even just a hammer). For example, the ATS unit shown on this page:
http://www.aircraft-tool.com/shop/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=4187&ReturnPage=search_result.asp?PageNo=1
* If you really do intend to do tons of holes that far in, you can
make yourself a riveting/dimpling arm like this ATS unit, except with
the 36" deep, 6" tall throat:
http://www.aircraft-tool.com/shop/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=204&ReturnPage=search_result.asp?PageNo=1
All you really need is some 2" x 3/4" steel bar, a centering punch
set, and a drill press. It won't be light or elegant, but it will
probably work fine.
Now, for a little reality check:
The 18" or 20" throat on most manufactured riveting arms is based on
the maximum width of most aluminum sheet, which is 48". That means
that no part of the sheet is more than 24" from an edge. So, for a
standard aluminum sheet, theoretically there's only an 8" wide stripe
down the middle of the sheet where you can't dimple. But, really,
almost nobody works with raw sheets - they cut them into the
odd-shaped outlines of ribs, bulkheads, and skins. For such things,
probably some 95% of the rivet holes fall within range of a 20" arm,
and for the remainder a pop-rivet hand tool plus a set of pop dimple
dies works fine.
You've probably already thought of all that, but just in case, I
thought I'd mention it.
Also, I show a bunch of ATS links in this post, and I've had pretty
good luck with what I've bought from them, but not everybody has
shared that experience. You might search RAH on the phrase "ATS"
before you buy. Just Caveat Emptor and all that jazz.
Best regards to all