C Frame ram on top and male dimple die no the bottpm

A slightly blurry pic of the dimple die inserted in the bottom of the table as previously described. A level table and a precisely positions dimple die are very important to creating a correct dimple,so care must be taken to set this up correctly before hammering away. Just a final note that the time spent solving the not-wide-enough work bench problem, and finishing the construction of the dimpling table, took a bout 2 days for me to complete. Unfortunately those were the 50 degree days that I might hve been able to finish priming all my parts,which is the last step before final riveting takes place. The cold weather is not helping, and I do have to say that right now I am extremely jealous of those that build airplanes that choose to live in more temperate climates, where they do not have to deal with the cold like we do here in Colorado. Oh well, I just stay patient and find other things to do when its super cold outside! I will show you how parts are cleaned and primed, and the skins are dimpled, in upcoming posts.

C Frame Setup and leveled

This shot is intended to show the setup of the C frame. You can just see the male dimple die, inserted into the same rivet set shown previously, now inserted in the bottom of the C-Frame., which is under the table. The male die just sits slightly above the rest of the table so that the hole in the skins can be inserted. The female die is placed in the ram, and a hammer is used to strike down on the ram which creates the dimple in the skin. All done by hand..... one hole at a time.

Dimpling the end rib of the left HS

This probably helps visualize everything previously described the best. Here I am dimpling the last 2 holes on the most forward part of the end rib of the left stabilizer frame. The flange is placed over the top of the femaile dimple die clamped to the table, and the rivet gun containing the male dimple die is inserted into the hole of the rib flange from the top side. Just a few second burst from the gun is all that is needed and the dimple is created.

Special Rivet Set and Male dimple die

This is a special rivet set that came with my C-Frame which I also purchased from Cleveland Tools. The male dimple die is inserted at the tip. The other end of the shaft fits into the rivet gun. This is a really great tool for close quarter dimpling or riveting, and it works in tandem with the other tool as needed.

Dimpling in tight places

This is yet another tool I purchased well in advance from Cleaveland Tools. It was not part of the standard tool kit,but it did not take long to understand why it is needed. Especially on the HS, many of the ribs are not very broad or large,and this makes it hard to dimple and rivet certain holes. This tool is known as a close quarters dimpling tool,and allows one to be able to dimple holes in areas where there is 1/4 inch or less width to work with. You simply slide the rib flange over the female dimple die shown at the tip of the tool, and use the rivet gun with the male die inserted to "drive" the dimple into the hole from the top side. My friend Ron purchased a pair of locking plier dimple dies for the same purpose, and so far I have not needed to borrow those, but we'll see Ron! :)

IF you are building an RV adn you do not have one of these, you need to get one!!! Simply one of the best tool investments I have made!!!!!

Dimples

Not a very clear pic. I wanted to show the dimples in the rib flanges. The dimples are necessary to allow the flush rivet heads to sit down flush with the top surface of the part, which is effectively dimpled or countersunk to match the dimension of the flush rivet head, which in this case is always 100 degrees. A set o fdimple dyes are used to create the correct sized dimple for the correct sized rivet. The idea is that the rib flanges are dimpled, and the holes in the skins are also dimpled, and the rivet will sit flush on top of both parts.

2x4 supports for the workbench extension for the C Frame table

Used the same hinges for the supports. Now you can see how they fold up against the frame of the workbench and allow the extension to be stowed.