with solid rivets, with which I had
no experience and lots and lots of
holes to be laid out and measured.
One of the best tips i found as a
plans builder was to buy one of the
inboard .032 pieces of the spar
web. This saved hours of layout time,
as I used it to simply trace the outer
perimeter and then match drilled
using the pre-punched holes in
the factory part.
This is the factory web used to copy for the rest
of the inboard spar webs....saved me hours
This was used to dimple thin spar
web skins, only one of the holes were
actually used.
how to coutersink the thin web skins. This
was to use a piece of thick stock, drill a hole
the size of the rivet used and countersink the
hole deep enough that when the web skin was
laid over it with the hole to be dimpled over the
countersink hole in the stock, then place a rivet
in the hole and smack it with a hammer, it
would make a great dimple, deep enough to
countersink the required rivets flush.
This had to be done because my countersink
tool (cheap one used in pop rivet gun) would not
dimple deep enough to leave the rivet flush.
out and ready to rivet, I built
some simple supports the same
height as the Sonex bucking bar
to try to keep the assembly
somewhat straight while riveting
the spar web to the spar caps.
2 by 4 Supports and Sonex bucking bar
Spar caps and webs resting on supports
and ready to rivet
With these supports, it allowed me to do
the hammer riveting on top of my workbench.
This was much easier on the back than
laying it on the floor. My table seemed
to be plenty of support to back the bucking
bar and make nice solid rivets with the hammer
method recommended by Sonex.
When supported with the 2 by 4 supports the
assembly is just high enough to allow the bucking
under the webs and caps
Take you time when stacking the web skins
as it can be a little confusing, just check the
plans carefully.
Finished spars hung on the wall to await ribs and skins