Text, Images Lars Befring

One of those annoying little problems when one wants to rivet a surface is how to get equal spacing between those rivet-lines that don’t have any supporting panel-line. This is one way to do it. This nifty little trick was something I learned while drafting with ink on film… jurassic knowledge, I know, but useful.

This example starts with a surface that you want to fill with neat rivet-lines or panel-lines, most references agree that it should be a number of lines between the two existing panel-lines:

When you calculate the distance between each line you realize that it is some awkward distance like 0.7891 cm/inch impractical to measure and not easy to multiply (yep I let the calculator and excel do most of my math but it still takes time) Even more annoying is that the ruler you can find in the mess that is your workplace is nowhere near exact enough to get this done:

Getting equal distances this way is difficult and frustrating involving lots of trial and horror untill you get it right. BUT!!! Before you contemplate scanning the wing and doing a custom template, search once more for those calipers, choosing those other references that shows an easier division or just drop the whole scribing/riveting thing there is an easy way to solve the problem:

Just place the ruler at one of the existing panel-lines and then just rotate it untill a measurement u actually can use meets the other existing panel-line:

Mark where you want those divisions and use your favorite L-square to finish the job:

POC! and it actually works in real life to!