Today I riveted the left elevator trailing edge. I followed the vans recommendations and did this in two steps; slightly setting the rivets, then coming back and fully setting them. I used a squeezer to apply just enough pressure to get the rivet to grip the skins, then alternated sides and holes, distributing the rivet squeezing across the holes. This helps keep the trailing edge straight. Once done, I checked it for straightness, then set up my back-riveting plate. I used a long 8 foot length of steel, and set it up on several blocks of wood. I taped the trailing edge to the back riveting plate, and clamped the plate to my workbench. It’s not great since it’s not an angle, and so it sags and bends if not supported. Since the left edge is short, I wasn’t too worried. I also tried to prevent scratching by putting a thin piece of masking tape along the very edge of the back riveting plate. Setting the rivets was easy, and it worked out, but I did some some abrasions on the trailing edge top skin, which is annoying. I also realized that my trailing edge breaks are excessive, and I shouldn’t have used as much pressure as I did.
Here’s a picture right before back riveting. At this stage all the trailing edge rivets have been partially squeezed.
