Panther Sport Aircraft Forums

I saw this tip somewhere (probably on this forum), and I decided to give it a try. Pulled rivets have a tendency to leave behind a rough "proud" rivet where the stem pulls through. I cut and shaped some scrap 16 gauge metal to make a rivet plate. This has drastically reduced the rough stem edge of the pulled rivet. I bent the metal and drilled a 5/64" hole in the short end. The long end is used as a finger hold. To use: slip the rivet stem through the plate hole. Insert the rivet in the hole to be riveted with the plate on top. Rivet with the chosen tool. Without the plate, I needed a dremel tool to knock the "proud stem" down. Now I can smooth the rivet top with some emery cloth and a scotch brite pad. This takes much less time.
Glen

That's a great idea! Thanks for sharing it with us!

I'm building my Panther with protruding head rivets rather than flush rivets. When using Harbor Freight's pneumatic rivet puller I was not impressed with the appearance of the finished rivet head. I decided the results were influenced by a small chamfer around the puller's die. I touched up the face of the die on my belt sander and the look of the finished rivet is now improved. After de-burring, polishing and priming I was looking for a suitable method of identifying my finished parts. Writing the part number on each part with a permanent marker was unacceptable. I now use these string price tags to identify each part. Unlike self-adhesive labels or masking tape the string tags leave no residue on the part.
I hope you find these hints helpful.