Day 50 – Checked off a task

In what seems like forever, I finally checked off another task in the build. While nothing huge, it’s the first time since the spring that I have been out to work on the stabilizer.

This task was a bit complicated as you have to reach into a small space to hold the bucking bar while you set the rivets into the inspar ribs. I started off as I was previously by putting a piece of rivet tape over every rivet head and wrapping my bucking bar with a cloth. By the end of the job, I was back to how I did things in the beginning… place a single rivet, shoot it. No tape… no rag… no frills. It worked out great!

I learned something today that I wish I knew earlier. Sometimes, a rivet goes just a LITTLE sideways and an edge stands a little proud. This happened today. I was resolved to drill it out and re-do it, as I wanted it to be perfect. First though, I tried an old trick that has never worked: I tried smashing it again with the rivet gun without the bar in behind. This does nothing. I tried again, but put the bar behind it and let it squash a bit more. It set nice and flush! The downside is that it is now a bit overdone, but I am calling it good enough. The alternative is drilling it out and risking making a BIGGER mess.

Photos of today's progress attaching the skins to the inspar ribs.
Photos of today's progress attaching the skins to the inspar ribs.
Photos of today's progress attaching the skins to the inspar ribs.

With all this done, I marked the next batch of rivets to shoot which is the remainder of the inspar ribs.