Learn by Doing

So tools are at critical mass and I have started the practice kits. First impression are the tools from Cleveland Tools and Brown Tools are first rate; they are high quality and reasonably priced. I bought the professional  surplus tools whenever I could and that worked out well. Sorry to say, but most of the hand tools I bought at Harbor Freight I ended up returning and reinvesting on similar items from Cleveland and Brown.

First discovery is that those machinists scales are hard to read; the 1/32 of an inch graduations must have gotten smaller over the years because when I was 18, I could read them no problem. So it IS true the world is getting smaller.

I found using the dial calipers as a measuring tool works much better than the machinist's scale. Also, the 10 year old Craftsman drill press was a score. Small, precise and nice to work with. What I did not expect is the trouble with deburring. I Invested in several different kinds of debuting tools for the small rivet holes, but still not happy with any of them. The best I found is a countersink threaded into a handle. But the alclad is soooo soft I am still way over deburring. The so called " deburring" bits left too many chatter marks in the soft aluminum. The best was the 100 degree countersink in the handle. Interesting that this produces a flat spot the rivet will sit on when dimpled to accept a 100 degree rivet. But this flat spot exists in the first place because the hole was over deburred. My last attempt is to try a 120 degree counter sink for deburring since the hole burrs are mostly normal to the surface and not inside the diameter. For the prepunched kit parts, I plan to enlarge the holes using  reamers, rather than drills, which should minimize the amount of deburring.

The best tool is the Main Squeeze rivet squeezer from Cleveland. Very precise, light and accurate. I bought a used DRDT2 and it need a but of filing to get aligned, but once set works well too. The slow dimpling speed makes for precise work, as opposed to using a hammer and c frame, and the Wack-A-Mole technique. The aluminum skin is soft and thin, so a fast dimpling force doesn't seem to be needed. But alignment is critical.