Help with Monel Pop Rivets please

[merlin3688]

Sailspar fill the rivets up with the little plastic plug spoken about earlier although Z spars just leave it blank. I guess puting the plug in looks better.
Buying a decent rivet gun need not be expensive, I recently brought 3 guns, all that could take 1/4 pop rivets for very little money on Ebay, they were all second hand but worked just fine. Avoid the cheapest ones as they will work for 5 mins or not pull up the larger rivets.
I was taught that rule of thumb that you need 3mm length of rivet through the material, shorter and it will pull up in the material and longer it will not pull up tight.

 

[Retired in Crete]

It never ceases to amaze me that people spend hours researching the best equipment to purchase and then fix it to their boat with any old rubbish rivet or fastener from their local swindlery or from Halfords. Mast steps are a classic example of this!

If you want the best fastener for the job visit your local fastener distributor (from Yellow Pages). Tell them what you want to do and rely on their advice. They are the experts, use their expertise! OK, they are used to selling by the thousand but most will have a charity box on their trade counter for people who only want a few of something which is not worth raising an invoice for. For a couple of quid you get the most suitable fastener for the job.

I gave mast steps as an example, so what should you use? I would recommend these:
http://www.avdel-global.com/en/products/breakstem-fasteners/monoboltr.html
You will need a special nose tip (about a fiver) to place them and a tool capable of placing ¼ inch (6.4mm) steel fasteners. A lot of distributors will lend you this (against a refundable deposit) if you ask them nicely.

Using the correct fastener for the job gives peace of mind and total security. Would you want anything else?
John