2004-11-17


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What's this???

I'm drilling out rivets? Didn't I just put these in yesterday?

Yes, I'm drilling out rivets, I've installed the E-720H stiffeners BACKWARDS. If I leave them this way, the flange of the top stiffener will be in the way of the bottom one. So out they come!

I put the clecos in the holes before I drill out the last rivet holding the stiffener so that it doesn't just "let go" That's 6 rivets each for 4 stiffeners. 24 rivets.
If you take a look at this picture from yesterday, you'll see that these stiffeners are put in backwards. The flanges don't all go the same way, The red arrow is pointing to the correct orientation, the 4 yellow arrows are pointing to the bad ones.

But that's not all I drilled out.

I forgot to smooth out the edge of the access hole before I installed the reinforcement plate (E-615PP). Once the plate's installed, you can't smooth the edges of the hole anymore so OUT IT CAME as well.

19 rivets in this puppy for a total of 43 drilled out rivets. It seemed like it would be horrible before I did it. Once I got going on it it wasn't too bad. If you're careful about making sure that the drill stays in the center of the rivet, it actually comes out cleanly. Once I corrected all of the problems and reinstalled everything, I felt much better about it.

Stiffeners with the flanges all going the same way. The short ones (E-720H) don't have a pointy end so it is possible to put them in backwards so be careful.
Tomorrow I think I'll make the bending brake out of 2x8's and crease the trailing edges.