What type of rivet gun

tudorsailor

tudorsailor

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Just been to an ARC seminar and amongst the advice was to get a rivet gun. Recommended for fixing lots of things, including items onto the mast or boom

Other than not putting stainless rivets into aluminium what do I need to know? I appreciate I need drills to make the appropriate hole so 3.2mm drill for 3.2mm rivet??

Would this kit cover my needs?
http://www.baselinemarine.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=101&cat=Pop+Rivets

Thanks for tolerating a novice riveter

TudorSailor
 
From my limited experience of pop rivet guns, more than 3mm rivets in monel is as much I can do with a hand rivetter of the grip type. I have a scissor type of gun that will do 6.2mm monel ok
 
tudorsailor said:
Just been to an ARC seminar and amongst the advice was to get a rivet gun. Recommended for fixing lots of things, including items onto the mast or boom

Other than not putting stainless rivets into aluminium what do I need to know? I appreciate I need drills to make the appropriate hole so 3.2mm drill for 3.2mm rivet??

Would this kit cover my needs?
http://www.baselinemarine.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=101&cat=Pop+Rivets

Thanks for tolerating a novice riveter

TudorSailor
Click to expand...

I have a lazy tongs type ( but less than £20 from Toolstation IIRC).
64474.jpg
Care is needed, by holding the business end with the spare hand, that it does not go skidding across the surface with the broken mandrel gouging a groove as it does so.

It's done what I bought it for no bother but I doubt if it robust enough to set the larger (6mm/ ¼") monel rivets.

If I was looking for something better and more expensive to st big Monel rivets it would be the long handled two hand type.

This sort of thing

65516_lg.jpg
 
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Having fitted home-made steps to the mast of my previous boat using monel rivets I would suggest that nothing less than a good lazy-tong type riveter is the way to go.

p.s. Don't forget the Duralac paste before inserting each rivet; very easy to forget. ;)
 
VicS said:
If I was looking for something better and more expensive to st big Monel rivets it would be the long handled two hand type.

This sort of thing

65516_lg.jpg
Click to expand...

That's the type of thing I finally pulled the trigger on as a decent power one is close to 1k, I don't do a huge amount with it, perhaps thirty or forty mixed between riv nuts and pops a month, I got the Sealey one.
 
David2452 said:
That's the type of thing I finally pulled the trigger on as a decent power one is close to 1k, I don't do a huge amount with it, perhaps thirty or forty mixed between riv nuts and pops a month, I got the Sealey one.
Click to expand...

I wont do that many in my whole lifetime!
 
David2452 said:
That's the type of thing I finally pulled the trigger on as a decent power one is close to 1k, I don't do a huge amount with it, perhaps thirty or forty mixed between riv nuts and pops a month, I got the Sealey one.
Click to expand...

Can one of these do riv nuts AND pop rivets then? With interchangeable 'heads' is it? My cheapo rib nut tool just died the death, need to replace it.
 
Monel rivets are used by all mast companies, mostly two sizes of rivets are used, 3/16 and 1/4, drill sizes are 4.9 and 6,5, length can vary but you need 3mm of rivet to enable it to be pulled up propery, if shorter they will pull up in the fitting, if longer they can be loose. We use heavy duty rivet gun, probably the more you spend the better the gun! Hope this helps.
 
merlin3688 said:
Monel rivets are used by all mast companies, mostly two sizes of rivets are used, 3/16 and 1/4, drill sizes are 4.9 and 6,5, length can vary but you need 3mm of rivet to enable it to be pulled up propery, if shorter they will pull up in the fitting, if longer they can be loose. We use heavy duty rivet gun, probably the more you spend the better the gun! Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Fantastic. Thats what I need to know.

Given that this is for occasional use - and I cannot think when in the past I might have used one,

Would this simpler kit be enough to cope with 3/16 end 1/4 inch or is the scissor type better

Thanks

TudorSailor
 
tudorsailor said:
Fantastic. Thats what I need to know.

Given that this is for occasional use - and I cannot think when in the past I might have used one,

Would this simpler kit be enough to cope with 3/16 end 1/4 inch or is the scissor type better

Thanks

TudorSailor
Click to expand...

This type of gun will set aluminium rivets up to 4.8mm

si4609sml.jpg

It wont set Monel rivets that size

For larger alumium rivets you will need the lazy tong type.

A decent ordinary lazy tong type or lever action type will set Monel rivets up to 4.8 mm but for larger sizes you will need a heavy duty lazy tong or a lever action type.


Some useful information about differnt types on this site http://poprivettooling.com/catalog/products/manual/hand-rivet-tools/
 
Monel rivets are very hard to set with a small hand gun.

A large scissors type gun will make life easier - but the £20 ones are rubbish. Look around engineering outlets for better quilty rivet guns ie - here.

https://www.part-on.co.uk/category/hand-rivet-tools/

There are also better sources of monel rivets at sensible prices

http://www.shop4fasteners.co.uk/riv...ead-rivets/monel-dome-head-rivets/c-24/p-4600

I just have a small cheap gun - after breaking the first Draper ( jaws snapped ) - I now heat up the rivets in a blowlamp - then set while hot, easy peasy !

If I was doing a lot I would get a decent gun.
 
I have a couple of rivet guns, one like that shown above by VicS which is perfectly ok for most jobs. I also have pair of cheap lazy tongs which I bought a few years ago to do a repair job on a spinnaker pole end. I bought too cheap; it worked but the jaw didn't eject the spent pin so I had to strip the chuck with each use. The one posted by bigwow looks nice.....

I wouldn't just buy a gun and put it in the tool locker. Better to get some experience of using it (or them if you buy two).

A recent example from "a friend" (far too embarrassing to say that it was me). My friendly recently pulled a cleat clean off the mast while fitting the headsail single handed at the start of the season. Power winches don't take prisoners!

I, sorry he, needed to use the lazy tongs as it was a 6mm rivet. The nose of the rivet gun would not go fully into the cleat recessed hole so he needed to grind down its profile to make it fit. Without a bench grinder, it would not have been possible to rivet the cleat back onto the mast. The moral is that there is no substitute for experience.
 
davidjackson said:
The mandrels of cheap lazy tong rivet guns only have about 5mm of thread, from memory, so even after adding a couple of thick washers to get closer to the bottom of the cast cleat attachment hole, which had quite a draft angle / taper, it was still necessary to grind the nozzle.
Click to expand...

I think he meant to use a small nut ( or nuts even) slipped over the rivet mandrel (the pin) so that it is positioned between the head of the rivet and the nozzle or nosepiece
 
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I once went up my mast with a lazy tong riveter, paid the hire company before I thought it through, might as well have taken a tennis racket, just could apply enough pressure, if I anchored my legs round the mast there was no way I could get far enough away to push hard enough, but then I have always been a wimp when working 50' up, too much imagination.
So if you need to use it at height you may need something compact.
 
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