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03-30-2012, 12:05 PM
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#1
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Rivet Master
1964 17' Bambi II
1961 24' Tradewind
Strasburg
, Pennsylvania
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 917
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Drilling out buck rivets
Greetings Streamers:
I need to drill out the buck rivets around my entrance door to remove inner skin on my '64.
What is the best process to do this? I am guessing center punching the "front" of the rivet which is actually inside on this application and then drilling it out like a regular pop rivet.
If so- what size drill bit should I use?
Thanks for any further direction- Ben
__________________
"The difference between vintage and retro is that vintage is honestly old and cool. Retro tries to be but isn't."
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03-30-2012, 12:33 PM
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#2
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Rivet Master
1961 24' Tradewind
1969 29' Ambassador
1970 21' Globetrotter
Jamestown
, Tennessee
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,783
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I have done the center punch and drill removal with an 1/8 in drill, or perhaps 5/32.
if you can get between the inner skin and the door frame they can be cut with a sharp putty knife and a hammer and then punched out
__________________
Rick Davis 1602 K8DOC
61 tradewind, plus a few others
13 Ram 2500 TD
99 Dodge TD 577K miles
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03-30-2012, 01:46 PM
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#3
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Rivet Master
1973 21' Globetrotter
Houston
, Texas
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 3,314
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For drilling out any rivet, especially bucked rivets, I use a "Rivet Removal Tool" I bought from The Yard for $39. See the link below:
Rivet Removal Tool
This tool is awesome for gettting your drill bit centered on the head of the rivet and keeping it there. You also don't have to work so hard to get the drilled rivet heads off of the bit again.
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03-30-2012, 01:51 PM
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#4
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Chief Chili Cook
2010 30' Flying Cloud
Bakersfield
, California
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 738
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A lot of info in this thread, and a few of our professional restores chimed in with their own equipment and methods.
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f381...ets-85451.html
__________________
The NSA -- The only part of the government that listens.
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03-30-2012, 03:16 PM
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#5
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Rivet Master
1992 34' Excella
Austin
, Texas
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 563
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Back when I did a little work on aircraft, we found the easiest way was to cut an X across the heads with a cutting wheel in a Dremel tool and then pop the bits off with long nose pliers. No more skidding drill bits which damage aluminum panels that way.
__________________
Crusty
"If you come to a fork in the road, take it."
Lake Travis, TX
"Rancho Deluxe"
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03-30-2012, 05:15 PM
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#6
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Rivet Master
1960 33' Custom
Athens
, Georgia
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,373
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Ben, in this scenario your safe to take a sharp #30 drill and place the tip on the rivet head, twist the chuck 1/2 a turn to set the point on the rivet head then slowly drill into the rivet head down to the skin, then either snap the head off with a #30 punch or just the drill, your choice. Next step (if possible ask your assistant to hold a bucking bar or something dense behind and next to the rivet tail) whilst using the #30 or 1/8" punch and a 8 oz (or smallish ball peen) hammer tap the shaft and tail out of the hole. If you have a problem drill a bit more, you can always use oversize rivets, same size head-greater shaft diameter (#27 bit).
There's a ton of ways to remove the rivet but this will leave the most unmolested hole possible. (NB your can use a centre punch to create a tiny point right at the beginning but there's is an argument that you slightly harden the head making your task a little more tricky as well as slower). Anyhow food for thought and good luck
__________________
1960 Sovereign 33' Pacific Railroad Custom
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04-03-2012, 07:10 PM
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#7
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Rivet Master
1964 17' Bambi II
1961 24' Tradewind
Strasburg
, Pennsylvania
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 917
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Crusty
Back when I did a little work on aircraft, we found the easiest way was to cut an X across the heads with a cutting wheel in a Dremel tool and then pop the bits off with long nose pliers. No more skidding drill bits which damage aluminum panels that way.
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This worked perfectly except that I tapped the cut rivet heads off with a screwdriver and hammer. Thanks for the tip!!
Ben
__________________
"The difference between vintage and retro is that vintage is honestly old and cool. Retro tries to be but isn't."
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04-04-2012, 07:40 AM
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#8
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Rivet Master
1992 34' Excella
Austin
, Texas
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 563
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Glad it worked for you. In the shop I was in we found it to be the quickest and easiest way of removing aluminum panels that we wanted to later reuse. I probably should have said to remove the bits with whatever tools you preferred because there was a variety of methods even in the shop for this part of the process.
__________________
Crusty
"If you come to a fork in the road, take it."
Lake Travis, TX
"Rancho Deluxe"
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04-04-2012, 07:45 AM
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#9
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Rivet Master
2020 30' Classic
Derwood
, Maryland
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,515
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I would be so nervous messing up the skin of the Airstream...
__________________
John "JFScheck" Scheck
2020 30’ Airstream Classic
**I Love U.S.A.**
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04-04-2012, 07:58 AM
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#10
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Site Team
2002 25' Safari
Dewey
, Arizona
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 15,615
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I had to remove the refrigerator vent cover this week to snake an antenna wire down. This required the removal of 10 bucked rivets, so I tried several of the methods listed in this thread. These are my conclusions but since I only had a small number of rivets to remove, I only could try each method on a few rivets.
Center Punch and Drill - Worked OK, but the drill did not always stay centered in the punched dimple. Maybe I needed a bigger punch or to smack it harder.
Dremel Cross Cut - Not easy when working in a tight spot. Getting down from the ladder to replace a broken cutting disc was a pain. I did not feel comfortable with this method. The issues I had may have been due to the area I was working.
Hand Start and Drill - In my situation, I felt this was the easiest and fastest method for rivet removal. Starting the drill by hand and then drilling worked every time with no problem.
Your mileage may vary...
__________________
Richard
Wally Byam Airstream Club 7513
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