Rivet Gun

[Rarebird]

Hi all,
We are starting to fix the Boler, and I was shopping for a rivet gun. SO what kind to you use? What do you recommend? What to look for, and what to avoid?
I don't need the very best in the universe, but I like to buy good tools.
THANKS!
Marjie

[Roy in TO]

Hi Marjie,

I got one like the first three shown on this page. You only need it for about a hundred rivets so high quality does not really matter. They are cheap enough to replace if needed.

The only thing you need to make sure of is that there are various ends to handle the different sized rivets. Most times you can find them in kits.

[CD Smith]

I have the model 38353-0VGA (shown on the page referenced on the previous post).

It fulfills all my pop revit needs.

[DonDeutsch]

Someday i am going to spring and buy one to use with my air compressor.

[peterh]

Someday i am going to spring and buy one to use with my air compressor.

Got one of those. Unless you have to pull dozens and dozens of rivets one after the other, which is what happens when you build an airplane, I'd just go with the hand riveter.

[Roy in TO]

My hand riveter wouldn't handle airplane rivets. They are tough to pop!

[peterh]

My hand riveter wouldn't handle airplane rivets. They are tough to pop!

Which is how you want the rivets holding the wing skins on to act, eh?

Even if you have a pneumatic riveter, you still need a good quality hand riveter to build an aluminum airplane. There are lots of spots where there's room for a hand riveter, but not the power tool. And there are plenty of people who build the whole plane using only a the hand riveter to set all the blind ("pop") rivets.

There are a lot of people here who bad-mouth the rivets on their trailers, btw, many of whom argue stainless-steel screws and nuts work better. I have to agree there are times I think screws and nuts are a better solution, but I would never want to fly in an airplane that's held together exclusively by screws and nuts instead of rivets. A properly sized, properly set blind rivet will never unscrew, never come loose. I can't say that about screws.

[Terry G]

Well, I just replaced all the Snap Caps in my new-to-me Casita 17' and I couldn't believe how many of them there were. Those folks at Casita sure like their pop rivets. Is it true that parents in Rice don't use safety pins on their children's diapers? Instead they reach for the rivet gun.