Modified C Frame Riveter/Dimpler
Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2024 12:59 pm
by BobDz
Necessity is the mother of invention.
I have an Avery C Frame with a ram for riveting. I don’t have a ram that is drilled for dimple dies, or other rivet sets. I have an email into Cleveland to see if their drilled ram will fit my 30+ year old Avery. But I’m tired of stopping work to wait for stuff. Patience is a virtue that I do not have.
So…
How to adapt my dimple dies to my Avery. My final idea was a concentrically drilled dowel. Inside diameter is 3/16 to accept the dies, out side diameter is the same as the diameter of the ram. Now, how to I make the connection? Turned out to be extremely easy! I used a short piece of heat shrink to attach the dowel to the dimple die (Just so you know the shaft of the dimple die is about 1/32 proud of the dowel. This way, no force is exerted on the dowel.). Then I used another piece of heat shrink to attach that “sub-assembly” to the ram. In theory the heat shrink will/should shrink concentrically, so that the dies line up.
Works PERFECTLY!!
Re: Modified C Frame Riveter/Dimpler
Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2024 2:24 pm
by Bryan Cotton
Almost as good as having a friend with a lathe!
Re: Modified C Frame Riveter/Dimpler
Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2024 2:33 pm
by BobDz
Bryan Cotton wrote:Almost as good as having a friend with a lathe!
According to Google maps: 2 hours and 36 minutes.
Will your wife be upset when you tell her you have to move???
Since my original post, I’ve found a piece of 1/2" rod that should make a new ram. Since you live so far away, I’ve learned to be quite good at concentrically drilling round shafts on my drill press
Re: Modified C Frame Riveter/Dimpler
Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2024 3:58 pm
by Bryan Cotton
You should join our EAA Chapter and then you can fly down to use the lathe.
Re: Modified C Frame Riveter/Dimpler
Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2024 7:46 pm
by BobDz
Bryan Cotton wrote:You should join our EAA Chapter and then you can fly down to use the lathe.
But I need the lathe to fix the dimpler to finish the plane to fly down there so I can use the lathe.