I got into my second practice kit tonight, starting with a simple riveting project. I had to prepare two aluminum sheets and a piece of aluminum angle by drilling the holes and deburring everything. Then I riveted it all together, using universal rivets, flush rivets, and pop rivets. It wasn't a very complicated project, but I gave me some more practice that I still very much need.
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| Close up of tonight's project |
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| The project sitting on my rolling workbench |
There are a few things I want to discuss with the local builders. For example, when I riveted the two sheets of aluminum together, there was some distortion in the metal (one of the sheets is not straight when you look down the edge). I want to ask them if this might be a result of my riveting progression (I didn't go down the line but sort of bounced around between rivets). But overall the project turned out OK. I'm getting a much better feel for my tools and how exactly to use them all.
Tomorrow I will start on the small control surface portion of the practice kit (you can see the parts sitting in the top right of the second picture in this post). Looking forward to seeing something that looks like an airplane part come together!
