First Parts Made

Squeezed my first-ever rivets and made the first two parts:  upper and lower rudder hinge assemblies.  Some people paint these before riveting; some don't.  I don't think corrosion will be a problem in sunny Sacramento.  If I'm wrong in 35 years I'll reorder these parts.

I would be remiss if I didn't pass along some of what I've learned so far to future RV builders.  See those five rivets there?  The parts come pre-drilled with under-sized holes.  The plans call for final match drilling with a #30 drill bit before riveting.  Well guess what.  Neither Home Depot nor Harbor Freight sell #30 drill bits.  According to Mr. Google (who knows everything), a #30 bit is 0.1285 inches, and a 1/8" bit is 0.1250 inches, which of course is only 3.5 thousandths of an inch smaller, and I already had one of those, so I figured a 1/8" bit could work if I made a couple of passes.  Wrong.  The rivet called for would not fit in the hole.  Had to redrill the holes with a #30 as called for in the plans.  Fortunately I found a spare #30 in one of the small parts trays I got from my coworker so I didn't have to wait a week for a mail order.  Lesson learned.