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Pneumatic rivet squeezer... luxury or necessity?

kd410se

Member
I’m in the formative stages of assembling my tools and getting my garage ready to start an RV12is build in the near future. As most of the rivets are of the pulled variety, would there be any merit to the idea of just going with a manual squeezer and saving the $700 or so a pneumatic squeezer would cost (new)? I know I’ll save time with the air powered gun, and I do plan on buying a pneumatic pop rivet gun for sure, but would the extra $500 I could save end up being a one way trip to Popeye forearm hell?
 
Luxury

IMHO. No need for pneumatic; and I never wanted to run the compressor forever. I actually put some padding on my manual squeezer so I would t wake the kids with the clicking of the handles late at night.
 
How many driven or squeezed rivets are there in an RV-12, what size are they, and how many can be reached with a sqeezer?

If you can get to them with a squeezer and there aren't a lot of them, I'd look to borrow a squeezer, rather than spend $500 on a tool that will be of limited use.

And if they are 1/8" rivets or smaller, I'd be looking for a manual squeezer.
 
How many driven or squeezed rivets are there in an RV-12, what size are they, and how many can be reached with a sqeezer?

If you can get to them with a squeezer and there aren't a lot of them, I'd look to borrow a squeezer, rather than spend $500 on a tool that will be of limited use.

And if they are 1/8" rivets or smaller, I'd be looking for a manual squeezer.

I really think you’re right. I don’t know the exact percentage but the vast majority of rivets on a 12 are pop rivets. I do have a bit of an advantage in that I work at Aircraft Spruce so the employee discount will help take the edge off of whatever I end up buying but we have a heavy duty manual squeezer set that comes with the die set and a bench mounting plate that is looking better and better to me the more I think about it...
 
No driven rivets in an RV-12. Any non-pulled rivets can be reached with a 3" yoke. But pretty much any rivet that CAN be reached with a squeezer is squeezed, not pulled. Same for dimpling.

At least, that's my take reading the plans.
 
Definitely a luxury

That being said, I began with a hand squeezer and then transitioned to a pneumatic squeezer. I like many things that I am able to do with the pneumatic squeezer. But it is a certainty that you will find some rivets or dimples where a hand squeezer functions far better than pneumatic.

To each their own, but I do like some of the time saving it provides and the resale value is pretty decent. If I were buying again, I'd put serious consideration into a Numatix.
 
I agree that all the solids can be squeezed, but a rivet gun made it easier o install the baggage floor rivets to the landing gear channel.
 
I found the Cleaveland Main Squeeze (https://www.cleavelandtool.com/collections/squeezers-and-yokes/products/main-squeeze-kit-schkitw) to be extremely useful during my RV-12 build. Its pricey but made dimpling and squeezing the solid rivets a breeze. IMHO no need for a pneumatic riveter -- nice but not necessary.

I checked that link out... looks like a great tool but hopefully the “Shipping late January due to Covid impact on supply chain” note meant LAST January!!?!
 
My 2 cents

  • There's absolutely no justification for a pneumatic squeezer on the -12 (Not to mention they are heavy and awkward imo, but some will disagree)
  • I love my Main Squeeze, it's super light and the cam action makes the squeezing a joy (Some people don't like it, so ymmv)
    • Get some padded bench-vice jaws to hold the lower arm of the squeezer so you can operate it one-handed for small to medium parts
  • I have this $86 pneumatic puller from Amazon and I love how it instantly pops a rivet with the squeeze of a single finger https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MQ9H4W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  • I tried the battery powered Milwaukee - nice to not have the air line, but I found it irritatingly slow at pulling the rivet and not worth the price
 
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I bought a used pneumatic puller and only used it a couple times. Don’t really need one except for a couple spots.
 
As discussed, a pneumatic squeezer is not required for an RV-12 - but it will be for your next RV!

My original Avery squeezer is now working my fourth RV. Lesson to be learned - don’t sell your tools after your start flying your plane!

Carl
 
- A pneumatic squeezer is a luxury, and not necessary. Taking it beyond that to the idea of 'justification' seems silly. None of this is necessity. If we frame airplane building in terms of being justifiable almost all of us lose.
- I love my Numatx squeezer. It's super light and the pressure regulation makes squeezing rivets of various lengths a joy. (Some people like adjusting things and changing sets, so YMMV)
- Nice thing about the Numatx is that you can always work two handed. You don't need to go put small parts in vice because you can just hold them in place with two hands while your foot does the work.
- I have a traditional style pneumatic puller that I also enjoy. It's nice to have multiple setups to grab without changing yokes. Between the manual, the traditional, and the Numatx there is almost always one that is just ready to go.
- I like the Milwaukee puller. I like it so much I got two of them. Of all the operations involved in building a -12, I never feel like the speed of the puller is slowing me down.

I like tools. I like multiples of the same tool to avoid tooling changes and adjustments. I spend extra time and money on infrastructure stuff because for me it's just as much fun to play airplane builder as it is to go fly.

Just like building the airplane you want, buy whatever tool you want and don't look to others to tell you if it's ok or not.
 
The real answer

A friend of mine has a saying. "Luxury items: If you can pay for it, and don't feel it, buy it" Meaning you have lots of extra money.
I built a RV-6 in 1991 without one. BUT!!!!!
First: you don't have to have it.
Second: You can get along with out it
Third: If you can afford it Buy it.
Fourth: You will love it.
I now have one and use it more than I thought I would. I even bought a $200.00 6" yoke for mine.
Great tool if you have the money to burn.
My three cent worth.
Art
 
I credit the CP-214 pneumatic squeezer with a higher percentage of perfectly squeezed rivets working solo. Lowers the requirement to stabilize the work while driving rivets. I prefer it for any AD4 rivet if the squeezer will get there.

I bought the Numatx squeezer and gave it an honest trial. I find the hose awkward and the foot pedal is inferior to the hand lever on the CP-214. It does get into some tighter spots though. I’ll be selling it once I get moved.
 
I agree with others it's not needed. Perhaps I don't have the strongest arms after a few spine surgeries. But it would have been a real benefit when doing those D4 rivets along the center channel when building the fuselage.

Robert
 
Pneumatic

I don't think it's quite that polar. Maybe on the 12 I would call it a luxury.
On my 7A I find it has a place. My preference is gun and tungsten bar.
However, a string of rivets all the same dimension is where it really shines. No adjustment.
Every rivet set exactly the same. Makes quick work.
 
After spending the day watching videos and reading up, I think the Cleaveland Main Squeeze might be the one for me. As a newb to all this, I do have a question. Looking at Spruce’s dimple and die sets, I see they have a 3/16” shank, and that they’re about half the price of the Cleaveland set, albeit a bit less comprehensive. Is a 3/16” shank standard for all squeezers? Cleaveland doesn’t specify on their site what size dies the MS takes... If 3/16” is a universal thing, the Spruce set should fit the MS. If not... well... I may be waiting until January for the MS kit to become available. The stand alone squeezer is currently in stock but the kit isn’t, as of today.
 
Most squeezers are set up for 3/16 shank. I picked up some 1/4 shank dies decades ago from Boeing Surplus (remember them?), & have yet to use them.

If you are starting a 12, a pneumatic squeezer is definitely a luxury item. If you want one, buy it! Good thing, you can always re-sell it later.

As a note- I have built 4 solid rivet RVs (& maintained 50 pls other RVs) & DON’T have a pneumatic squeezer!

Tools are good, I’d definitely not be the one to try to talk you out of buying a tool if you really want it.
 
Rivet squezer

You don't need a pneumatic rivet squezer to build an RV! It is nice to have if you can afford one.

To build a RV 12 you have to have a pneumatic rivet puller. Oh you can use whatever pop rivet tool you like, but remember that kit has like 10,000 + pop rivets in ot and if you use a hand pop riveter you will either have an arm like popeye or be able to crack open walnuts with your hand.


RV 6A flying sold
RV 8A flying sold
RV 12 flying sold
RV 14A flying
 
I’m definitely going to re-allocate the $700 or so I would have spent on a pneumatic squeezer to either other tools or put it in the war chest for the tail kit. Thanks for all the input, y’all!
 
My 2 Cents

6 months ago I had the same question and overwhelmingly the response was it's not needed just get the Cleveland main squeeze. I'm a tool guy and decided to get the pneumatic squeezer anyways and happy I did. For me it's enjoyable just squeezing the trigger and getting a nice consistent rivet.
The main squeeze is $476, a pneumatic from ATS is only $73 more. And I bought a cheap hand squeezer. So for a little over $200 I have both. Yes I know the main squeeze is better but is it better than a pneumatic with the occasional use of a "inferior" hand squeezer?

My thoughts are why not have the luxury of a pneumatic when it's really not all that much more expensive. Tools are a VERY small percentage of the total cost of building a plane, why not get the ones that will make it easier and more enjoyable. Plus when I finish I can sell it and recoup more than half the cost.
 
The cost of any tool is not what you pay for it but the difference in what you pay and what you can sell it for. Once you own it you have an asset. No different than a house or car.
 
I bought a remanufactured pneumatic squeezer on E-Bay for $250 and whished that I had done so at the beginning of my build. It allows you to make consistent quality squeezes every time. You can always sell it after the build. By the way don't forget the tool buying never ends! Its part of the fun of ownership.
 
I bought the cleveland hand squeezer, but quickly learned that buying a used pneumatic squeezer made the job go quicker, the repeatability of a consistent squeezed rivet, you can also hold the part better and squeeze with push of a button. Buy it used and sell it when finished and if you happen to sell it for less than you paid consider it a cheap long term rental fee.
 
Oh, we love our pneumatic squeezer, such a pleasure to use and consistently repeatable results. If you do decide to buy one, steer away from the cheaper Chinese versions, go straight for this one:

https://www.cleavelandtool.com/products/pneumatic-squeezer-no-yoke-snb214

Yea, it's not cheap, but worth it.

We started off with one of those $350 Chinese copies (came with a toolkit) and thought that we just weren't good at it, it was so bad we went back to the rivet gun. Long story short, you get what you pay for.
 
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