Got motivated again and installed 800 rivets in 10 days

[belfert]

I got motivated to work on the bus again and got 800 rivets installed in the last 10 days to finish my reskinning.  I only actually worked on the reskinning about 5 of those because of heat and the need for another person to help.

The bad news is I underestimated the number of rivets I needed.  I thought I would need around 900 and ordered 1000 to get a huge price break at 1000.  I ended up being 20 rivets short and will need to order more tomorrow.

I went through 9 drill bits total and wished I had more.  It was taking three times as long to drill a hole at the end.  I bought a Drill Doctor, but I can't get the hang of it as the bits that looked sharp would skip when starting the hole in the aluminum I was using.

Brian Elfert

[Hartley]

You need to locate a Click-Punch which is used in machine shops and such. You locate the punch tip where you are going to
drill and push it in until it clicks. It has a point that leaves a dimple for the drill bit to center up on when you start to drill.

Sears used to carry them but they might also be called and automatic drift punch.

The neat part is that you can draw your lines and where you want to drill and pre-punch a group of locations before you
hang the metal in place. Then once you have it hung then just follow your pre-punched marks and drill each hole as you get to it.

I think the one I have is 40 or 50 years old by now and works like the day it was built.

[belfert]

You need to locate a Click-Punch which is used in machine shops and such. You locate the punch tip where you are going to
drill and push it in until it clicks. It has a point that leaves a dimple for the drill bit to center up on when you start to drill.

Every single hole was center punched in the panels before they were hung.  The bit sharpened with the Drill Doctor still liked to skip even with a nice hole punched to start it.

The only problem with center punching was where I marked the holes on the wrong side of the T-square and drilled into nothing behind the panel.  I need to fill that hole and will have to put some bondo in the dimples I center punched that were not used.

Brian Elfert

[Dale MC8]

Predrill the holes before you install the panels. Use a smaller drill for these holes and drill out to the right size when the metal is stretched in place, then install the rivets. HTH  Dale

[Dallas]

Brian,
It sounds to me as if you are trying to cut the angle on your drill bits too shallow. Try changing the agle from 118° to something more like 125° and if that still isn't enough, try going all the way to 135°.
Another problem may be you aren't getting the fluts set right with the alignment process. I'm not sure how to tell you how to correct this on your Drill Doctor because I have an XPK and I think you have a different model.

However, Have you tried going to the Drill Doctor website and viewing the instructional video? It may help you. They also have the instructional guide for your machine available in .PDF format.

http://www.genext.drilldoctor.com/content/view/20/37/

I have one of their instructional DVD's  which they sent with mine. If it would help, click on my name on the left of this post and send me a personal message with your address and I'll be happy to send you a copy.

I hope this helps!
Dallas