Rivet All Day Long
By Eric Dykstra
Pop rivets, blind rivets — whatever you want to call ‘em, they’re a great way to fasten all sorts of sheet materials together. The RiveDrill drill accessory uses the rotary action of your drill motor to set rivets. Their website claims that with the RiveDrill you can set 14 rivets in a minute, which they reckon is twice as fast as someone using a hand-powered riveter, and without the hand cramps!
You place a rivet in a pre-drilled hole, then pull the trigger to set the rivet. Reverse the drill to release the rivet shank. The device isn’t secured to the drill, so it’s a two-handed job. The RiveDrill works with any 3/8″ corded or pneumatic drill — if you use a cordless drill, the manufacturer suggests it be at least 12V.
RiveDrill is made by a Spanish company, but you can find it sporadically in the U.S., for about $55. A normal Google search will yield more results than their product search, if you’re interested.
RiveDrill [Official Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
March 12th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
For a few rivets the hand-held devices are OK - but for big jobs an air actuated hydrulic tool fits the bill better. Huck makes one priced OK for a contractor.
http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/hucak175a.html
I also have an old (1994 vintage) Sears Craftsman (9-7477) hand operated hydraulic riveter which works very well - but I’ve never seen a replacement for it (maybe it was recalled?)
March 12th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Snap-on Makes some nice air/hydraulics, especially if your using Klik-locks, speaking of which, Marson has some nice tools too, with their vacuum hold on the rivets, and built in mandrel collection.
http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/tools.asp?tool=all&Group_ID=1783&store=snapon-store
http://www.huck.com/marsoncorp/M series tools.htm
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:10 am
I just acquired a Craftsman hydraulic rivet gun with part number 97478. This must be similar to the one mentioned by Fred (March 12th, 2008 at 2:51 pm). I’d love to find a parts manual for it. Help!