Rivet set - how to use safely?

I bought a rivet gun off ebay (thank you, Gunner!)

It is supposed to be able to handle up to 1/4" rivets. It came with 5 rivet sets, "reconditioned":

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The gun seems to be functioning fine with the regular sets, however, I had great difficulty fitting the retainer spring into the grove of the brass set and I cannot fit the spring in the groove of the flush rivet set at all:

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I assume that one cannot use the gun with the flush rivet set safely in this condition. I do not want to force the spring as it will not hold the regular sets. Does anyone know a trick apart from getting another spring and opening it just for the flush rivet set?

All the flush rivet sets I looked at other sites have shank arrangement much more like the regular rivet sets.

BTW would anyone recommend getting a beehive type of the retainer spring over the quick change one that came with this gun? I guess I could then open this one up to accept the flush rivet set.

Michael Koblic, Campbell River, BC

Reply to
mkoblic
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All the spring really does is keep the shank from falling out of the gun, and it catches the tool if you hit the trigger without the tool against something. I threw mine out and use a quick change retainer.

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In your case just modify a spring for the odd sets. Not much to that.

Reply to
Steve W.

Michael-

The brass set is merely a brass hammer under power - don't use it for riveting. As far as the flush set, use your thumb and first finger in the groove, It makes it easier to keep the gun on flush rivets. If you need a retainer, if you are working high enough for dropped tools to be a hazard or riveting for more than 15 minutes, a piece of thin bungee cord (3/16 to 1/4") around the QD and the set works well. After

3 months or so building and fixing aircraft, I threw my spring retainers away, and had bungee on 3 of my 7 guns. If you have to rivet with one hand, and buck with the other, try the bungee!

Regards, Bob

Reply to
Bob

Couldn't you grind down the retainer area of the brass punch so it fit the spring, Mike? It's more than strong enough to work with a reduced-diameter center.

One tip for those retainer springs is to leave them unscrewed 1.5 to 2 turns so they're actually quick-release.

-- Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air. -- John Quincy Adams

Reply to
Larry Jaques

...

same here, but my bungee is just electrical tape. Duck tape would be even better. There's nothing a little duck tape won't fix

Karl

Reply to
Karl Townsend

[...]

OK, thanks. I am hearing: Springs not essential for safety (I have since seen some Youtube videos with people not using springs either).

Boy, does that thing have a flat learning curve or what? So far I have managed to chew up a bunch of rivets, steel and copper, as well as the skin around them, as well as the improvised bucking bar.

Clearly more practice is needed before I can even think of using it in anger!

Michael Koblic, Campbell River, BC

Reply to
mkoblic

Never trust a spring for safety. It's merely a convenience...Or not.

Two things: Get a flow-reducer so you can keep the pressure up but not let the gun get away from you. And learn to feather the throttle. You should have a shallow learning curve afterwards.

Har!

-- Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything. -- George Lois

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Make sure the rivets are proper length and that your heading tools are for that size rivet. Using a set made for a 1/4" rivet to set a 1/8" rivet will cause you grief. The cup in the heading tool is supposed to fill with the rivet material which upsets and forms the head before the tool bottoms out.

Reply to
Steve W.

The general practice, at least in the aircraft business is to "drive" the rivet from the head. The bucking bar goes against the shank which upsets to form a flattened cylinder shape.

As for the safety springs, I never saw a working sheetmetal man use one.

Reply to
John B.

1) There is one on the gun (at least I believe it is a flow reducer). The fun was trying to work out which way to turn the thing to get the desired result. 2) That I expected to be easier than it turned out to be in practice. I wonder if there is a difference between $80 guns and $200 guns.

Michael Koblic, Campbell River, BC

Reply to
mkoblic
[...]

Funny you should say that. I am using a set which is ostensibly meant for a 1/8" round head rivet but I am wondering if the cup is too big. The writing on the set is a set of mysterious numbers, nothing that says "#4", or "0.125" or "1/8".

Michael Koblic, Campbell River, BC

Reply to
mkoblic

Probably lots of impact difference and a whole lot of trigger feathering difference. But rivets don't deserve it, IMHO. I bought a $260 Chicago Pneumatic (real pro tool, not Chiwanese) because I needed the longer stroke and full impact it gave when I was breaking apart auto and truck suspensions and front ends. The $9 HF jobber is a really short stroke model which is just fine for hogging off wood with gouges made from cheap chisels.

If you can finely adjust the flow, you can use the cheap model's throttle as an ON/OFF switch.

-- Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything. -- George Lois

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Take castings of them in bondo after dipping the heading tool in Vaseline. The hump might be easier to measure than the cup.

-- Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything. -- George Lois

Reply to
Larry Jaques

#4 is the right size for 1/8" rivets. Is the radius in the cup larger than your rivets? If so, it may be for a #4 Universal head rivet. In aircraft work, universal head rivets replaced round heads shortly after WWII. Round head sets are available, but you may have to buy new. Regards, Bob

Reply to
Bob

Need more rivits? Ive got a shitload of Aluminum ones

-- "Confronting Liberals with the facts of reality is very much akin to clubbing baby seals. It gets boring after a while, but because Liberals are so stupid it is easy work." Steven M. Barry

Reply to
Gunner

Yes, it is in fact a universal head set. The diameter of the head is about the same but it is much shallower than the round head (0.040" vs. 0.100" approximately). I assume that this is not a good thing as you cannot keep the set on the head (the set has been dancing around and making holes in the skin). Not to mention the fact that it flattens the head. I will order a proper one.

Michael Koblic, Campbell River, BC

Reply to
mkoblic

A "round headed" rivet with a shallower arc on the head is a "brazer" head. fairly standard aircraft rivet as it has lower drag then a round head.

Cheers, John B.

Reply to
John B.

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