Rivet gun question

[DannyH]

Yesterday I bought a blind rivet gun, along with some rivets to play with. I didn't have anything I wanted to rivet, so I just put in a couple to see how it works. After trying a couple out, I was surprised that on the last part of the down stroke, that closes the handle, it didn't snip the rivet flush. Isn't it suppost to do this? If not, what is the proper way to snip the rivet flush, maybe to use pliers? I looked online, but they just explained what a blind rivet was.

[Harry Young]

Danny,

I need more info...Are you riveting two pieces together? or testing it in a single drilled hole? The stress point where the rivet snips off is pre-engineered at a specific point along the rivet shaft and requires a specific thickness of material matched to a rivet engineered to that thickness for the snap to occur correctly.

To just answer the question...I guess the answer is Yes, the rivet shaft is supposed to snap off at the end of its travel when the rivet bottoms out...If the right rivet is matched to the right thickness of material.

Happy Camping, Safe Trails.

Harry

[peterh]

As Harry said: Blind rivets are designed so their shaft snaps at a specific depth, leaving the head of the shaft lodged tightly enough to form a water-tight seal in the rivet.

This is what I think of when you say "rivet gun:"

[DannyH]

Thanks for the replies. Mine is called a hand riveter, I just called it a gun and didn't know they actually had a gun. Now I know I need to rivet two pieces together, not to do an "Air" attempt without material, to get the rivet to break correctly.

[Bill MacDermod]

The word "blind" means that you use it with only access from one surface. The rivets used on these trailers are round heads which stick above the surface after breaking, flush rivets have to be countersunk and you usually have to have access to both surfaces, front and back. Sometimes the center pin in the rivet sticks above the suface after being broke off but, its usually not a problem. If it is sometimes it can be knocked flush with a small drift punch. Most folks even in the sheet metal trade still call it a gun, its just not a pneumatic gun. Hope I understood you right.

[Joe Z]

Rivet gun is in place and on the rivet....after you squeeze the handle the first time open the handle and push the rivet gun back down flush and squeeze a second time.... keep doing this and it will snap off flush. Be sure on the back side that the rivet is where it's supposed to be up against the object.
Joe

[Bud Kennedy]

If possible, an aluminum washer on the back side of the rivet will do much in making the connection trouble free. This is especially important when the riveted surfaces are thin, brittle or flexible.

Alas, this is not possible in my double walled u-haul.

[Tom U]

Yesterday I bought a blind rivet gun, along with some rivets to play with. I didn't have anything I wanted to rivet, so I just put in a couple to see how it works. After trying a couple out, I was surprised that on the last part of the down stroke, that closes the handle, it didn't snip the rivet flush. Isn't it suppost to do this? If not, what is the proper way to snip the rivet flush, maybe to use pliers? I looked online, but they just explained what a blind rivet was.

Hi,

When you are using a pop-rivet tool this sometimes happens with a long rivet or thin material. What I do is release the handle, re-grip the rivet closer to the material and squeeze again. This always has popped the stem from the rivet for me.

Hope this helped.

[Chris McVeigh]

My riveting experience

I replaced my roof vent and two windows this year, both had butyl putty tape sandwiched between them and the trailer. I found that it took three pulls to snap the rivet.

Along with having trouble getting the pin to snap off flush, the third pull would pull the thin flange of the vent hard to the surface of the trailer leaving a dimple - the spaces between the rivets heaving up to form gaps even with the putty. Even if I filled the gaps it still looked bad so I started again.

After seating the putty between the flange and the fiberglass I placed all the rivets in the holes and gave each rivet two pulls. When all rivets were tight but not snapped and before anything dimpled I used a Dremel rotory tool with a cutoff wheel to cut the pin flush.

Using this method left the pin totally flush with the top of the rivet head. The soft metals smooshing together leaving no hole or even a gap. I dabbed each head on my roof vent with butyl caulk just to be sure.

A lot of work I know but it worked for me with what I had.

[Morgan]

One caution for you riveters: be sure to use aluminum rivets with aluminum mandrels. Aluminum rivets with steel mandrels can crush the fiberglass before the mandrel breaks.

[Darwin Maring]

Also: Steel rivets will rust.

Chris has the solution for a neat installation.

[Raya]

The issue Chris mentions (and that he solved, so it's not insurmountable) is one reason I prefer to use machine screws/nuts when I have access to the backside. Not that there's anything wrong with rivets (and they're the cat's meow when you are in a production setting, and/or do not have access to both sides), but with machine screws it's possible to tighten just as much as necessary but not too much. And you can go back and change the tension on one if you feel like it.

Just another option.

Raya

[DannyH]

Thanks for all the great information.