Soft rivets vs pop

[preacoupe]

Guys,

I know I've seen some of you use pop rivets for anchoring camloc fasteners. In the manual, they suggest using soft rivets for any nut plates. On the page where they suggest all the tools that one would need, a tool for the soft rivets isn't mentioned. Now, I need to anchor some nut plates and camlocs. I'd just as soon used pop rivets, but are they acceptable in either application? Maybe using flush rivets? In some cases, I've used rivnuts. Any ideas?

Dennis

[danerazz]

You would normally use a rivet squeezer or buck and drive the rivets with a gun. You can in fact do it with a polished bolt head in a vise and a ball-peen hammer as many sonex builders have done when building their spars. A AN3 flush soft rivet would give the best results, but a pop rivet would work, though I would stick with flush rivets for clearance.

[GDS]

Pop rivets work well to attach nutplates and camloc receivers. The trouble is they should be flush rivets, so the sheet will have to be dimpled. You're right back to needing a rivet squeeze.

If you dimple and use flush mounted squeezed rivets it will look the best. If you have to, borrow the tools or shop time from your local A&P but don't forget to give him six containers of his favorite adult beverage.

[preacoupe]

Thanks, guys. Love this forum. Will check into doing it with the soft rivets. It will produce the best job, I'm sure.

Dennis
Escapade 0017

[jtaylor]

Dennis, here is what I did. I used the soft rivets. I didn't want to buy a tool I may never use again, so I made one. I had an old pair of bull nose pliers about 3/4" wide, 10" long. I ground the serrated face back parallel with each other. When the pliers close there is about 3/32 parallel gap between the jaws. I know it's not the A&P way, but they work great.

[preacoupe]

I guess my cheapness was showing through. I was feeling, too, that $125 - 200 for a one-shot deal didn't exactly excite me. But, iffin I had been using my head earlier, I'd have thought about an obvious solution. I volunteer out at Pima Air and Space Museum here in Tucson. A couple of squeezes shouldn't be an act of Congress.

Dennis

[Johnny C!]

I haven't installed my camlocks yet,
but I specifically remember Bob,
who used to work at the factory,
using his Knipex plyers to squeeze
the soft rivets. It worked great, and
I intend to do them that way.

John

[SheepdogRD]

I tried the Knipex pliers at the factory, and loved 'em. I ordered a pair from Amazon and used them to build part of the firewall extension. They've come in handy several times. They're not cheap, but -- like most good tools -- they're a good investment.

Put 'em on your Christmas wish list.