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dimpled platenuts

bobnoffs

Well Known Member
when a nutplate is dimpled for a flush rivets the nutplate sits on the dimple and is not tight against the material using .032 material. does this gap effect anything? looks like a 1/32 washer slipped between the nutplate and the material would tighten things up.i can't believe those ears on the nutplate aren't gonna flex when the screw is tightened.
 
If I feel ambitious, I will straighten the legs with a couple pairs of pliers prior to installation. I have special modified installation screws I use to draw the nutplates up tight before riveting them on. By modified, I mean I shorten them up so I spend little time screwing them down,,,just enough to get through the nutplate threads, and I grind the screw head diameter down so I get good full coverage and contact with the rivet head with squeezer dies on flush rivets. Like Dan H said, the screw will draw the nutplate up flush though.
 
thanks for the info.
a lot of time to cut an access hole, make a doubler around it , dimple , and rivet the nutplates. and long ago i learned to use the doubler for a template before any holes are enlarged or dimpled.
 
You might consider NAS1097 rivets.

A few turns with a deburring bit is all it takes to make them sit flush. One of many super helpful tips I?ve learned here.
 
Platenuts for flush screws

I dimple platenut legs on my C-frame with a modified set of dies. They fit nicely over the aluminum dimples if you shave a tiny bit extra from the steel dimple with a countersink.

And a little bit of thread drift from me, but it does relate to dimpled Platenuts. I recently placed an order with Aircraft Spruce that included (10) K1100-06 platenuts (the version that accommodates flush head screws). Spruce emailed me that the manufacturer had increased the price to $3.35 apiece . . . Did I still want them? Uh, no.

Very strange. All other sizes remain relatively cheap. And other venders all seem to be out of stock. What is it about the #6 flush platenuts that make them so much more expensive?
 
when a nutplate is dimpled for a flush rivets the nutplate sits on the dimple and is not tight against the material using .032 material. does this gap effect anything? looks like a 1/32 washer slipped between the nutplate and the material would tighten things up.i can't believe those ears on the nutplate aren't gonna flex when the screw is tightened.

I dimple the arms with a narrow female dimple die and get no deformation of the nutplate, after which I just put it in place on the parent sheet and rivet it in place. No straightening or shims required.

Cleaveland has these dies - "3/32 Small Dia. Female - only"
 
You might consider NAS1097 rivets.

A few turns with a deburring bit is all it takes to make them sit flush. One of many super helpful tips I?ve learned here.

+1

Why anyone would bother dimpling nutplates after learning this technique (oops rivets) is beyond me.
 
well, this horse is out of the barn and i will have to use the 426 rivets i have but........would the oops rivets work thru the wing skin and then thru the doubler being that the wing skin is only .02something thick?
 
+1

Why anyone would bother dimpling nutplates after learning this technique (oops rivets) is beyond me.

+2 Excellent strength and very quick. Less cost than ruining an expensive dimple die. Works even on .025 stock.

Sorry I did not see your post there Bob, the NAS rivets are a 3 shank rivet with a 2 head. I would not use them as an airframe structural function. The shear for the nut plates are fine, but you should refer to the shear strength table compared to a fully dimpled 3 before use anywhere else.
 
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