Our Van’s RV-7A project (Wing update #4) - Riveting the Bottom Skins!

[@GarryBishop]

Beautiful! Nice to see you guys at Bayport Aerodrome and finally meet Janie!

[@CliffandJanie]

Nice seeing you! Was a fun day!

[@omorin34]

Good for you guys!! That is awesome your building it together. I'm building the fuse and ordered the wings as a QB. I am going to buy a 2x gun after watching this. I prefer to back rivet what ever I can, Ill keep using the 3x for that and load bearing parts. 2X when I'm on the skin pounding a AN-426AD-3-3.5. Seems like there is less jumping. Awesome work and as Vans will say if you call their tech support, just keep building.

[@CliffandJanie]

Having to buy the second one was painful but totally worth it! it has to feel comfortable while using it and this one definitely did. Im sure if using the 3x enough that it would get easy but why not have an excuse to buy more tools?! Good luck on your build! Wings should be easy after getting the fuselage done

[@IzzyFlys1]

Thanks for Stopping in it was Nice to meet you guys , looking like your making awesome progress with the 7a !

[@paulschannel3046]

I built a 7A quick build 11 years ago... Wow time flies! Only had one panel to rivet on the wings and it was indeed the most challenging. BTW... my arm looked just like that! Keep pounding. I subscribed.

[@CliffandJanie]

Thanks for subscribing! Glad we weren't the only ones. It's such a big panel that so much can go wrong with.

[@AustinManke]

Love your videos! I’ll have to keep an eye out for a 2x rivet gun. I’m sure it would have prevented some tears if we had one in the past. Never enough tools it seems… 💸

[@CliffandJanie]

Thank you! The 2x really did make all the difference. Any excuse to buy a quality tool is a good one! Good luck with your RV10!

[@AustinManke]

@@CliffandJanie that’s right! And thank you!

[@handflyin]

What are you guys using for primer?

[@scottmcdaniels3254]

Just watched a bit of your latest wing build video. Fun to see a couple building together (my wife and I did 30 + years ago on an RV-6A). If you are open to suggestions... I can tell from a couple of the views of some skins in your video that your skin dimples are not being formed fully with what ever process / technique you are using. It is not an airworthiness issue but it will be noticeable from a finish quality stand point. To late to do anything about it on the wing skins once riveted but you could remedy it for the rest of the build.

[@CliffandJanie]

Definitely fun being able to work together in the garage! Always open to suggestions. Can you be more specific with which dimples you are referring to?

[@glennevans9416]

@@CliffandJanie I did notice the same re the dimples. I love the quality of your videos. lots of good information. I do have to agree with Scott and to be fair he is the vans GURU.I use cleaveland dimple dies and get a flat surface above dimples but yours are under dimpled. I noticed this when looking at your part in the video with regards the inspection panel. The dimple should not have a noticeable depression around the outer part of the dimple...you can pop them under a lighted area and any reflection you can see going through the dimple should not be noticeably wider in the dimple area. So you need to hit harder if its a C frame....if using a DRDT use more pressure. Use quality dimple dies....to me that is avery or cleaveland....definately not yard store.....I have all three types and simple go cleaveland every time. look for a ring mark around the outside of the dimple. I love my 2x rivet gun which is just like yours.I believe Scott is referencing your dimples on the skins you can see in the video. and hey its no worries...just as Scott says...build that out of the rest of the build. watch this U tube videos...it might help. kzbin.info/www/bejne/h6CcgnaDlrOGpaM Look at 3:50 seconds....yours looks a little like the far left example of under dimpling and you want the third dimple he does...good luck.

[@CliffandJanie]

​@@glennevans9416 Very Interesting, thanks for pointing out a specific area. Went and looked at it and the lighting is definitely not helping in that shot (we overdid it in our shop, you could flick the skin and you'd see it under this light!). We have cleaveland everything so no cut corners on that end. Watched all their videos before we started! Each dimple has a ring around it from the dimple dies. When doing it we compared it to the dimples done on the quick build skins and they are a perfect match to each other before and after riveting. So I'm wondering if it's either the lighting or the factory is also under dimpling?

[@scottmcdaniels3254]

@@CliffandJanie a ring around the dimple doesn’t necessarily guarantee a good dimple but lack of one does indicate a very bad one. Less than ideal dimples can occur even when using the very best dimple dies. Are you using a DRDT dimpling tool?

[@glennevans9416]

@@CliffandJanie oh good you have the dimple dies from cleaveland. if you are using the DRDT it can definitely under dimple and I have one too. however I made my own frame and its thicker material. in order to get perfect dimples from the DRDT2 you must get at least 1/8" of flex in the frame. that means preloading the dimple dies before putting the skin in. No that can mean the dimples are not evenly dimpled as the flex obviously causes the dimples to not be perfectly parallel at full squeeze. Thats why some say the c frame is better. In my opinion I have adjusted my DRDT2 to provide perfect dimples and i do get frame flex (and my frame is 6mm thick!). I had another look and I can see the lighting does show up all depressions which i notice all the time in my shop too. ....and they dont look bad by any means....just a few under dimpled ones noticeable in a few areas...in your opening shot at 5 seconds the dimple immediately above the rivet gun looks under done and the one above that looks fine....it might just be the lighting. Keep the great videos coming..they are interesting and helpful. cheers.

[@sierraromeo]

You must have very tolerant neighbors regarding the racket emanating from that trailer?

[@CliffandJanie]

We have the project in our garage -- It could be noisy but we are very considerate neighbors and make sure we only do the loud work when people aren't home!