Rudder Trailing Edge

Back in the shop and I tackled the trailing edge. Instead of backriveting per the plans I used the Avery trailing edge tool which consisted of squeezer dies that are ground at a 84 degree angle to match the trailing edge wedge and held aligned with a spring. I ground away some steel on my squeezer yoke allowing me to get in against my workbench closer with the squeezer. I also called Bob Avery at Avery Tools and got his advice on how to best use his tool. Again hours were spent aligning things, re-reading the manual and figuring out the best way to tackle the edge. My goal was to get the straightest edge I could with all the rivets looking good. The Avery dies worked well once I got them adjusted right and figured out the best way to used them with my squeezer. When clecoed together the edge had a couple small waves in it so I kept the edge on a solid aluminum angle with dive weights holding it flat as I started in the center and methodically worked my way randomly out to the ends per the plans. In the end I only had 3 bad rivets out of 49 and they were easily removed. I was pleased overall with the double flush shop heads. The trailing edge ended up acceptably straight. There were a couple small waves along the length but deviation was well within specs. My worst one was 1.3 mm vs the max allowable of 2.5 mm. I have no idea where that falls with first time builders but it was the very best I could do. I offset back riveted the 2 remaining skin rivets uneventfully but was bummed that my new very small tungsten bucking bar will not fit correctly in the space where I need it to go. Those 2 remaining rivets aren't critical now. I'll explore other ways to buck them and may just use pulled rivets instead. They are along the bottom edge root of the rudder and would be difficult to see and hidden by the elevator and horz. stab. The only remaining task in rolling the leading edges. I bought some thin foam board today and made templates for that task.