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Air ~Riveter
Rob James - 14/8/05 at 02:31 PM

Thinking of buying an air powered riveter
anyone used one? is it worth it ?I can get one for £45. Any advice on good drill bits to use....cheers Rob


Peteff - 14/8/05 at 03:08 PM

How many cars are you thinking of building?


Rob James - 14/8/05 at 03:14 PM

thought I would use it and sell it on through this section...rob


stevebubs - 14/8/05 at 03:17 PM

I love mine - makes rivetting a dream

Bit bulky for awkward spaces, though


the JoKeR - 14/8/05 at 04:24 PM

I've been using one for a while now and love it. It's obviously much faster than using a hand rivet gun, and I feel it gives me more control over what I'm doing, as there is next to no effort in pulling the pins on the rivets. I've put about 1000 rivets through mine in my current truck build-up, and would buy it again.

[Edited on 8/14/2005 by the JoKeR]


NS Dev - 15/8/05 at 08:16 AM

I bought one of these after I completely knackered my hand clinching 500 5mm stainless rivets!!! Absolutely indispensible tool unless you are only ever going to build one car, in which case maybe better to borrow one.

Drill-wise, buy some "Stub drills". They come in the exact imperial sizes needed for the rivets, and the tips are ground to a shallow angle so they self-centre extremely well (no need for centre punching on flat ally) They also only have 1 conplete spiral of fluting and are short, helping to get into tight corners and preventing snapping or drilling into things pehind panels! You can get them posted from Cromwell Tools (in the uk!)

Cromwell Tools, stub drills


VinceGledhill - 15/8/05 at 11:13 AM

BUY the riviter. I borrowed one before shelling out for one. Brilliant. As for the drill bits I buy them from the stall in the market. HSS drill bits. Packs of ten with a "lifetime guarantee" for a couple of quid.

Work well until the end of their life and you snap them. They last as long as expensive ones and you don't half go through them when building a car.


Peteff - 15/8/05 at 11:40 AM

I broke a 3.5mm drill and it was the last one I had on a Sunday afternoon so I sharpened it on the bench grinder at a shallower angle than original and about half its original length. I still use it now 4 years later when drilling alu.


Rob James - 15/8/05 at 01:07 PM

Thanks Guys minds made up, anyway, who wants wrist ache.?...Rob


NS Dev - 15/8/05 at 01:17 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Peteff
I broke a 3.5mm drill and it was the last one I had on a Sunday afternoon so I sharpened it on the bench grinder at a shallower angle than original and about half its original length. I still use it now 4 years later when drilling alu.


That's what I have found with the proper stub drills too, they seem to last for bloody ages! Certainly done a few thousand holes with the ones I have now!

The shallow angle really helps the centring too.