Re: [VAC] Rivet tools

[RJ & Krista <radiodial@xxxxxxxx>]

Make sure you get some high quality 1/8" & 5/32 drill bits.  

I've mostly been using a plain old Craftsman pop-rivet tool until I find
a pop-rivet tool with a skinny head that can get inside the curtain
tracks like Airstream did.

Get the Olympic Rivet head shaver - 10 rivets or 1000 rivets, the result
is beautiful compared to ground off Olympic Rivet stems:
http://www.airstreamdreams.com/category.html?UCIDs=516076

If you are doing skin panel work, Cleco's (temporary hole fasteners) &
drill guides (hole locators) are critical.

If you have the inside skin off, you can buck the seam-line rivets like
they originally did.  There you need a rivet gun ,headers & bucking bars
- and a lot of practice.

Cutting can be done best with high-speed cut-off wheels mounted in
pneumatic "die-tools".  Aviation tin-snips can do small cuts.

To clean-up edges, conventional files do fine, for large operations, a
narrow belt sander tool can't be beat.

http://www.harborfreight.com/ is a good place to get cheaper tools to
see if you like them enough to get their expensive quality counterparts
- or to get ones that you use just on occasion.  Otherwise, a site like:
http://www.ustool.com   (their site was temp down on Sunday, I noticed)
will get you pro-quality stuff.

Most importantly, sheetmetal work is an art & a skill, the tools are
only a part of the picture.  Always practice on scraps until you are are
satisfied, then do the task on the Airstream.  "Oops'ies" are readily
apparent in sheetmetal work & hard to correct.

Best of luck,
RJ
(ex metal-bender)
'65 Caravel