Top Skin Riveted/Side Top Skin Prep Started

Got the stiffeners and ribs back riveted to the top skin. This task, like so many, took far longer then it should have. I wasn't super pleased with the shop head quality. The first couple clinched and needed to be replaced. I was using the correct rivets callouts but they behaved like they were a little too long. I changed techniques from back riveting on the plate to using the C-frame. The rivets were acceptable, but not perfect, which always bugs me. Even though most of the shop heads are hidden from view I'm mindful that its an airplane, not a lawn chair. Maintaining aircraft standards is important for airworthiness and safety. But it would take me 1000 years to build this plane if I replaced every rivet that wasn't perfect. I lean at times on the paragraph in Chapter 5, Riveting, about misdriven or poorly set rivets having at least 95% of the strength of normally set rivets. And that removing/replacing them frequently makes things worse by enlarging the hole. So I use my best judgment, replace when I think its warranted and build on if its not. I'm going to buy a rivet cutter so I can trim rivets if clinching is an issue while maintaining the minimum length. Sometimes Van's rivet callouts are less then perfect. I moved on to prepping both large upper side skins before dimpling. My AN5-6 oops bolt and nut arrived from Aircraft Spruce today but the washers were totally wrong. The nomenclature on the label was right but they were way to small. I'll keep them since they're only .09 cents each and ordered 2 more.

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