Alternative to Cleco fasteners

[bert]

You can't weld near skin pins as they melt

 

[hillman]

Try LAS Aerospace ltd for clecos.
Just checked, 64p each +vat
That's where I get mine.

 

[Shedendman]

Hard drive magnets or self tappers. I got 20 hard drive magnets from eBay for about £20, they are seriously strong.

Yep i agree,use HD magnets quite a lot,but one draw back,cant weld near them,the arc goes nuts

 

[Gritineye]

I use skin pins because they can pull the sheet metal much tighter together than clecos, useful when the metal is slightly less than perfect.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

I prefer skin pins as you can get a better clamp on them, and they tolerate pulling stuff into line a bit better. That being said there is a place for clecos

 

[rikrobson]

I got a load off ebay cheap with a pair of pliers.

just need to keep looking

 

[slim_boy_fat]

gawd knows what they are called

Redundant?

 

[JMS1972]

Yep i agree,use HD magnets quite a lot,but one draw back,cant weld near them,the arc goes nuts

I 'discovered' this last time I was MIG welding a small bracket. Thought I was being clever using HD magnets

The arc was literally going anywhere but where I wanted. Took me while to figure it out as I don't use the MIG much and put it down to my usual incompetence.

 

[8ob]

Redundant?

Only until I need them again ye of little faith That said I haven't done any tin work for at leats ten years, may thin them out and lose a few in the classified`s on here.

Bob

 

[pedrobedro]

Only until I need them again ye of little faith That said I haven't done any tin work for at leats ten years, may thin them out and lose a few in the classified`s on here.

Bob

I'm same with the clecos and pliers, I haven't used them for ages but they were the best things for riveting aluminium bodywork on the Locost.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Only until I need them again ye of little faith That said I haven't done any tin work for at leats ten years, may thin them out and lose a few in the classified`s on here.

Bob

Oh I’m sure I’ll be visiting that post

 

[James1979]

You’ve probably worked it out by now but here you are:

And a home made welding / butt clamp

 

[James1979]

You can't weld near skin pins as they melt

No but they’re fine for tacking up if you’re sensible. The coloured caps are a spare part anyhow

 

[DanZac]

You can't weld near skin pins as they melt

Just take the coloured caps off, they're only there to help stop scratching on your nice expensive aircraft grade clad aluminum and give you a bit more load speading, which isn't really an issue for what most of us are doing. Even without the caps they've got a bigger footprint and pull tighter than a clico.

Or as @James1979 says, they're a replaceable part anyway.

 

[James1979]

Other thing I forgot to say was that the skin pins will go into a fairly thick subframe and still pull up. For thicker subframes / skins you can get long series ones.

 

[JohnH]

I happened across a few hundred of these panel fasteners a few years ago.

I prefer these to the Cleco`s, gawd knows what they are called

View attachment 324538View attachment 324539


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Avdel Skin Clamps.

Your ones probably came out of Weybridge. I bought a load from an ex employee at a car boot in east surrey.

 

[RWD3M]

Just take the coloured caps off, they're only there to help stop scratching on your nice expensive aircraft grade clad aluminum and give you a bit more load speading, which isn't really an issue for what most of us are doing. Even without the caps they've got a bigger footprint and pull tighter than a clico.

Or as @James1979 says, they're a replaceable part anyway.

Those coloured caps are coded to the size of the pin so I'd leave them on if I were you!

As I recall, yellow was 1/8", blue 5/32" etc. Can't remember the rest and can't be bothered Googling them!

 

[Cosantoir]

Gonna pick up a 10 pack of blue skin pins

 

[galooph]

Safer than asking for 4 skin pins