Webb

Webb

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Don’t need to do a lot of pulled rivets but my hands are barking at me. eBay has several inexpensive which I’m sure are made in China but are they worth a flip?
 
I’ve built an RV12 with a cheap pneumatic riveter. 12500 or so rivets no problem. Don’t run too high an air pressure for best results. I use around 50psi. Experiment a bit to find the happy spot.
Cheers DaveH
120485
 
I bought a pneumatic riveter for my 10 build. It was not used very much. Not really enough pulled rivets to justify. Now if I built a 12 that would be a different story.
 
I bought one from harbor freight and it has worked great for me. On the RV-10, there aren't many pulled rivets, but I think it's worth it to not destroy my wrists installing the floor pans and seat bases.
 
I heard the harbor freight one works great. I bought a used Taylor one and honestly I wish I got the Harbor Freight one.. sometimes the rivet stream gets stuck in The jaws and I have to disassemble it to clean it out. I agree that you want lower pressure, so it pops the rivet slowly! If I pop them at 90, it’stoo quick and doesn’t seem to squeeze the parts together as well.
 
Webb said:
Don’t need to do a lot of pulled rivets but my hands are barking at me. eBay has several inexpensive which I’m sure are made in China but are they worth a flip?
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I have one you can borrow if you want. Im at KTEW. PM me for contact info.
 
I'm also using an inexpensive one from Harbor Freight. 2500 rivets so far on my RV-12iS, and no problems. I also run it around 50 psi. Smoother action that way.
 
Well...just my 0.02

I bought a new Taylor from Cleaveland Tools, and have not been disappointed...

Now for the rant:

Cleaveland Tools has excellent customer service, is based in Iowa, AND is a VAF advertiser. If anyone checks the advertiser's list, you won't find Harbor Freight anywhere. For a company that doesn't give a whit about RV builders, HF sure gets a lot of free press on this forum.

So..here's my HF review: All their stuff is cheap and works until it doesn't. Then, good luck. If you are going to buy from them, just do it....Everyone knows what they sell, where it's made, and how it works. No need to make a federal case out of it.

I suggest everyone TRY to support these advertisers and local companies whenever they can. Occasionally, we all have to skim by with something from HF, but it should not be anyone's FIRST thought.

Just my 0.02...sorry, haven't had my coffee yet.
 
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Harbor Freight sells pretty cheap "imported" stuff, and generally the quality is definitely not "professional grade". That said, I'm not a professional. I have some Harbor Freight tools and in my non-professional use, they work fine for low-to-medium demand tasks and have held up OK. In the rare circumstance where I've worn them out or broken them, I just throw them away, buy another one, and I'm still way ahead on cost relative to having bought a top-tier brand. If I'm going to buy an electric or pneumatic tool, I confess that my first thought is usually "can I get by with Harbor Freight"? Years have taught me that the answer is occasionally "yes" and I've saved a lot of money with little in the way of frustration or disappointment.

Regarding riveters however, I've been frustrated enough by pneumatic riveters over the years. The good ones are more expensive than the 12v Milwaukee pop riveter, and being already invested in the Milwaukee infrastructure, I went that route. It's a fantastic tool. Fast, reliable, and no cord to drag around the shop. For $200 it was a great purchase.

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MacCool said:
Regarding riveters however, I've been frustrated enough by pneumatic riveters over the years. The good ones are the same price as the 12v Milwaukee pop riveter, and being already invested in the Milwaukee infrastructure, I went that route. It's a fantastic tool. Fast, reliable, and no cord to drag around the shop.
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I just got one of those, and it does a really nice job pulling rivets. I'm not happy with the mandrel retention though. It doesn't eject into the container unless I use an oversize nosepiece and tilt the tool back so it slides into the container. I thought it would pull it all the way through and eject automatically.

Does yours work the same way?
 
FlyingDiver said:
I just got one of those, and it does a really nice job pulling rivets. I'm not happy with the mandrel retention though. It doesn't eject into the container unless I use an oversize nosepiece and tilt the tool back so it slides into the container. I thought it would pull it all the way through and eject automatically.

Does yours work the same way?
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Mine ejects into the little holder reliably, but it's true that it's more reliable in some positions than others. I usually leave that black container off which makes it less cumbersome in tight quarters.
 
If you're holding it vertically (pulling a rivet straight up), where does the mandrel end up?

I'm wondering if mine is somehow defective.
 
Yes i have the Cleveland tool one and my only complaint is the madrel ejecting. Only if I’m tilting it back does the mandrel go into the holder. Otherwise it’s generally the floor.
 
MacCool said:
Mine ejects into the little holder reliably, but it's true that it's more reliable in some positions than others. I usually leave that black container off which makes it less cumbersome in tight quarters.
Click to expand...

I mostly use it with the black container off, and my recollection is that ejects the mandrel straight up and out, and pretty reliably. It's unusual, but not unheard of, that I've had to pluck the mandrel out when using the thing nose down.
 
MacCool said:
I mostly use it with the black container off, and my recollection is that ejects the mandrel straight up and out, and pretty reliably. It's unusual, but not unheard of, that I've had to pluck the mandrel out when using the thing nose down.
Click to expand...

I think there must be something wrong with mine. It never actually ejects the mandrel out the back.
 
FlyingDiver said:
I just got one of those, and it does a really nice job pulling rivets. I'm not happy with the mandrel retention though. It doesn't eject into the container unless I use an oversize nosepiece and tilt the tool back so it slides into the container. I thought it would pull it all the way through and eject automatically.

Does yours work the same way?
Click to expand...

Yes. But I think that's normal for the Milwaukee puller. The instructions say you need to tip the tool back to clear the mandrel and get it to slide into the black container. After setting a rivet, I find that if I gently push on the end of the mandrel with my finger, it usually slides back into the black container.

What I like most about the Milwaukee puller is not having to deal with the compressor hose!
 
I’m glad I’m not the only one with problems with the Milwaukee. Mine has had some super jams with 2-3 rivet tails getting stuck inside the mandrel. The last one was a doozie. I had to use a punch and beat them out. I ended up having to cut a 1/4” off of the them mandrel so I could get at them. I ordered a replacement mandrel months ago and still have not received it.

It seems like the rivet tail ejection might be a weak spot on all of the powered ones. Pneumatic or battery.
 
Webb said:
Don’t need to do a lot of pulled rivets but my hands are barking at me. eBay has several inexpensive which I’m sure are made in China but are they worth a flip?
Click to expand...

RV-10 build here. The Harbor Fright Pneumatic works well for me. A little piece of black Gorilla tape over the insert end keeps the bounce from scratching my epoxy primer. (I use it at 90-PSI, may try reducing to 50 for Elevator LE)

Now when I build the RV-15, I will probably invest in a higher quality unit. (Although the 2018 1-Week Wonder at OSH (RV-12iS) used more than a few HF pneumatic squeezers for the assembly but they were cheap to purchase so it didn't matter much)
 
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