Starting to Rivet Elevator - 2 hours

I decided to at least try using the squeezer on setting rivets in the 703/704 ribs. If I couldn't make it work then I would try the hammer and punch method. It turned out that using the squeezer was not so bad. It was a bit of work to slip the yoke over, insert the dies, adjust the dies and then squeeze. But once your set up and set the first rivet to the proper amount, all the other rivets come fairly easy. It's just a matter of moving cleco's around in order to move the squeezer. I ended up only having to drill out one rivet and reset it.

Update - See May 24ths post. Don't set these rivets just yet!

A little bit of research

Tried to do a bunch of investigation on how best to rivet the 703/704 ribs together. A friend suggested using a punch and a hammer and set them by hand. Almost no build logs on the net described how they set these rivets. I found that mike bullocks site described using the longeron yoke on the squeezer and then installed the dies once the yoke was around the piece. I think that this option is the best seeing that I feel very comfortable using the squeezer.

Priming Elevator Skeleton Parts - 2 hours

 Primed the elevator skeleton parts.

At the end on the day about 12 hours after priming, I cleco'd E703 and e-704 together. I quickly found out that using the squeezer on these parts will be quite difficult due to the flanges being in the way. I scratched my head for a while and decided to not go any further on the part.

Preping Elevator Skeleton Parts - 1.5 hours

I deburred all the holes on the elevator skeleton pieces and then went to work with a light file on the edges of the pieces. I Finished the edges with the 3m wheel.

This process was shown to me by a friend and I think it works extremely well. Previously I was just cleaning/deburring edges with a 3m wheel, but there was always a slight bump where there was shear marks in the piece. Using a small light file over the edges then a light buff with the wheel produces excellent results.

Countersinking Elevator Skeleton Parts Again - 3 hours

The new parts arrived from vans so I set to work on the new parts. I re-cleco'd the right elevator and match drilled holes for the new E-704 rib. I then set to work countersinking E-606PP. I repeated the same process of cleco'ing the piece to oak. This time I countersink the holes at the very ends of the piece rather than use the counter sink cage to ensure those holes did not go too deep.

I then used the 3m wheel on the elevator counterbalance skins to feather the aft and inboard edges.