holy bucking rivets batman!! pwich, if you spend the amount of time building your airplane as you do building tools, you'll beat all of us!! seriously, that is a great looking piece of equipment. i'm very envious of your talents!
i use one of two methods. for 470 or 426 4-whatever, i use the time chart. for 470 or 426 3-whatever, i use the number of hits the gun makes. for example, for a 426-3.5 rivet, it takes four hits at 45psi. brap, brap, brap, brap...done. works so far.
[quote="cjensen"
, i use the number of hits the gun makes. for example, for a 426-3.5 rivet, it takes four hits at 45psi. brap, brap, brap, brap...done. works so far. [/quote]
Thanks for the "props" Chad! So far I'm feeling like I'll need the lifespan of Methuselah to get this thing done. But I'm hopeful that it's just a "learning curve" issue and that once I'm comfortable with tools and methods, things will speed up.
You must be using a 3x gun? I've never tried one, but I don't think I could count the hits on my 2x. Too fast.
I hope this gizmo will give me repeatablity with less mental effort. I know pilots are supposed to be good at "dividing attention," but I'd like to keep my attention on holding the gun and bucking bar steady and accurate without having to worry about elapsed time.
yep, 3X. if i was doing the shooting and bucking by myself, i'd feel the same way. luckily, my dad lives close, and he is (usually) willing to help me. the last, and only, time i shot and bucked myself was with the training kits, and i f'd it up. so now, i shoot, and someone helps me buck, or bang...whatever.
The gadget works great! I'm sure I could have learned to set nice rivets without it, but I really feel like it shortened the learning curve for me. I was able to focus on the positioning of the gun and bucking bar, and keeping them steady, without worrying about the timing.
I found that with my 2x gun, and 50 psi, I was able to set nice consistent rows of little -3 skin rivets, driving them for exactly one second. Had trouble getting any decent pics to show, but you guys all know what a row of pretty shop heads looks like.
Using the side-mounted switch took some getting used to, and I really do want to move it to the trigger location, but it wasn't overly burdensome. I definitely plan to use this throughout the build.
Of course, it isn't entirely foolproof. Poor bucking bar handling resulted in some underdriven rivets, but the nice thing about the timer I'm using is that the time interval aborts if the switch is released. So by holding the switch down, I get automatic timed cut-off, but by giving it a short press and release, I can get a quick burst action to finish off an underdriven rivet.
I did think about the footswitch, and in some ways I think it would be terrific. But, the drawback is that you'd have to drag it and its connecting cord around with you. That could outweigh the benefits. Hmm, voice activated?
I think rather than try to market this, I'll maybe do an article and try to peddle it to one of the flying rags. Give enough info that if anyone else wanted to try it, they could. I think it's cool and interesting, but I don't think that many people would think it worth the time and expense to make. The components are a tad on the spendy side. But, I do think it would make an interesting story.
But who knows, maybe in twenty years someone will integrate that feature right into a rivet gun and people will take it for granted, just like matched hole kits. Then we can tell our airplane building grandkids about how tough things used to be.
seriously, that is a great looking piece of equipment. i'm very envious of your talents! 
