I’m building a Van’s RV-14, and I no longer use a back rivet plate for back riveting. Instead, I converted my Avery C-Frame to use the Cleaveland 12-inch back rivet set (the Avery C-Frame needs a conversion kit for this setup).
Why?
- Standard back rivet plate—While this works, it’s easy to “rivet over the edge,” ruining pieces. You could inset the plate in your bench, but then it’s fixed.
- Multifunction—I had access to a DRDT2 for about a year, and it’s an amazing tool for dimpling. It’s quiet (5 a.m. work sessions) and produces great results. That said, it’s bulky, heavy and useful only for dimpling unless you upgrade the frame to something even bigger and heavier for riveting. In my opinion, it really needs its own dedicated space.
- Doesn’t require a permanent setup—Breaks down and stores, giving you your space back, which for many of us is tight.
The Dimpling Setup
I fashioned this “table” from wood scraps I had lying around the shop. Originally, I was just trying to figure out a way that I could dimple sheets in the C-Frame without having a dedicated area for it.
In the above photo, I have two larger table pieces and two support pieces. When using this setup on the benches, the two support pieces move easily, while the larger ones are usually clamped into place on the bench. They move less often but can be moved as the situation requires it.
The conversion kit from Cleaveland for the C-Frame raises the height of the set holder, so the support tables will be taller. After a bit of research, trial, and error, I came up with this list for what was needed:
- The sheet should rest as flat as possible and be supported around the area where dimpling/riveting occurs.
- The male dimple die should be slightly higher than the rest of the table—if it’s lower, you get slightly concave areas surrounding the dimple in the sheet. Ask me how I know …
- The “business area” of the C-Frame should be supported such that as much of the impact energy from the hammer gets translated into forming the dimple.
- The “table” should be reconfigurable, so that as the sheet moves around, the support keeping it flat can also.
In the below photo, a few notes:
- The thickness of the top piece of wood on the C-Frame is 5/8 inch.
- The thickness of the MDF on the right is roughly 13/16 inch.
- The rest of the wood supporting both are standard 2x4s.
- There is a washer that brings the set holder to the correct height to the table. DON’T FORGET IT!
Sliding Back Rivet Table
I was working on the aileron build (Chapter 22), and the step arrives to back rivet the stiffeners. The standard method of using the back rivet plate and moving the aileron skin over the plate wasn’t going to work as the ailerons are long, and my workbench was bookended by large objects. I could move the plate instead, but to keep it on the bench, I would need to fashion several differently sized support pieces to keep the aileron flat, which sounded “fiddly.” And then there’s the “riveting off the side” problem.
The C-Frame conversion kit also allows you to back rivet with no chance of “riveting off the side.” In fact, this is why I originally bought it. The idea occurred to me—what if a “table” could be built allowing the aileron to move instead of the C-Frame back rivet setup? The following simple construct is what I came up with.
