Locomotion wrote: Neal,
The spring retainer you have is usually for a chisel or punch, the retainers for the rivet sets don't have the big hook on the end. the sets I have take a different retainer for 3/16" and 1/4" rivets.

that is what my first set was made from for the Brazier rivets....out of the punch that came with kit.......worked great......
one day i will get me a real gun, but for now..........it works

Neal,
The spring retainer you have is usually for a chisel or punch, the retainers for the rivet sets don't have the big hook on the end. the sets I have take a different retainer for 3/16" and 1/4" rivets.

I guess I wouldn't worry too much about them being a slightly larger diameter as long as they're eased enough that the edges of the set won't contact the surface easily.

FWIW... I tried some of those little rivet set caps to make those 'smiles' less likely. They work OK, and give you a little margin for error, but found that a tiny square or two of duct tape on the end of the set works just as well.

Yes Charlie it was a pain........in the back.......

Hey Rick i ended up buying two new sets, 3/16 Brazier and 3/16 modified........from Toolsource in the U.S. of A.........
all was good till they wouldn't fit into the retainer spring on my gun........had my neighbor machine down at the shoulder too the same dia. of my original...........
what i found different this time, i cant see the rivet head......my home made set for the brazier i cover exactly the head dia. these ones are a tad bigger than the heads, dosen't help my eyes are getting worse too boot.......was thinking of having the ends turn down a hair as well, but i don't want too bugger them up.........

Looking good Neil. Should be stronger than original. Given how many of those braces we see broken, it was certainly a weak spot. What did you end up using for a set?

Great job man I bet that was a pain to do by yourself
Charlie

Ice day, stay home day = Riveting day =
took a bit to get use too the new Rivet's and new rivet set...after 66 of them, that stayed...lost about 9, now drill filings on the shop floor...running solo dosen't help either.......all in all, happy.........got a few smiles.........soooo if you ever come up from behind and see some smiles, just smile back......

Some flat bar behind there ought to do the trick. Too bad you're not set up the flush rivet it. That'd make it pretty much disappear. I could send you a handful of flush rivets if you can wait a month for them to clear Customs. How big is the hole? Big enough that you can fill it with a small disc riveted to the flat bar?
The angle sounds like the most reasonable solution for the crack. I've seen a few later boats that had that area reinforced from the outside of the seat box with angle stock. Maybe the factory realized that this was a spot prone to cracking. Mine were pretty much destroyed that way.

couple more issue's.....that need addressing........at one point a PO drilled a 3/8" hole in the topside of the gunwale into the top edge of the rear seat back.........it weakened the flex of the channel and now has a "kink"........my thought's are too cut some 1/8" or 1/4" flat stock too fit up inside and rivet it in, hoping it will bring back the smooth transition........propbably the worst spot too drill a hole.......
the other i just noticed tonight........the back bottom corner edge of the front seat pan.....is cracked, 30% of the way across.....will probabaly cure it with a length of 1/2" angle stock........
if anyone see's a better solution.........yell at me, fill me in........cheers

Still lots to do, need to cut more brush and uproot some trees before spring.
I've been doing a lot of genealogy searches. The latest trace of my great grandmother took me to Mass. in the 1600's and followed it back to Robert the Bruce of Scotland. There were lots of Lords and Ladies in there.
Dad always said the money was on grandmas side LoL

Oh, GGG Grandmother was Cherokee/Souix, either 100% or 50%. not sure of her mothers ancestry.