Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

This last year my team just started using rivets instead of bolt. Have only a hand rivet gun things went slow, so as a gift I want to buy my team a pneumatic rivet gun. I started by buying a Harbor Freight rivet Gun, sadly it could not get it working and when I when and asked for assistance the store clerks blatantly lied to me. So returning that.

So I am currently looking for a sub $80 pneumatic rivet gun that works on our shop air which is 90 psi. The ones I am currently looking at are:

Campbell Hausfeld Commercial CL153900AV Rivet Gun

Neiko 30702A Pistol Type Air Rivet Gun

Allstar Performance ALL18207 Air Rivet Gun

Any suggestions and feedback for what I should buy?

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

The Harbor Freight Pneumatic Rivet Gun has worked perfectly for our team. 100% success, no bad rivets. Cheap enough to buy a replacement if ever necessary. As long as it is well oiled and maintained, it is a reliable product.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

Ditto we use that as well, normally lasts us a few seasons and we then order another one.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

3rd-ed

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

4th-ed.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

On a related topic, how do you decide how many rivets to use for a given application? We've probably been over-killing on bolts in recent years, but are moving towards rivets for more and more functions as we move from angle and c-channel extrusion from a local aluminum supplier to an increasing use of VersaFrame stock.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

For all of you with the Harbor freight rivet gun, how did yo remove the bottom cap to prime with fluid? It will not budge for me. I am on my second one and it will not come off. :mad:

BTW this is the rivet gun i have from Harbor Freight

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

Umm. The very technical method of educated guessing based on pure mimicry of Vex Pro gussets. Also you could factor in loads applied to rives and then figure a good safety factor for your application. I like to use now fewer than three rivets per item being fastened.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

5th-ed. I don't know the answer to your question, but I do know that we used the same Harbor Freight pneumatic rivet gun that our mentor used to assemble his kit airplane until it finally bit the dust. It just works until it doesn't and then you buy a new one because it's so cheap.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

I takes a lot of effort but it can be done with the included wrench. What happens when air is applied currently? They usually come pre filled.

The only issue we've had with the gun is the nose breaking off when it was dropped (our fault). I went on a trip to the US just to buy another.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

I can't think of why you'd want to remove the bottom of the HF gun. If it needs priming just take it back and get another. We've never needed to prime the ones we've gotten.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

It wasn't easy but with a lot of persuasion, it will go. There may have been a hammer involved to assist. I can't quite remember though, it was a couple years ago. The thing still pulls good.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

Just decided I would try it. Turns out it works without priming. Said on the box that it came with out fluid. Looks like I have a nice Christmas present from my team now.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

We use the Campbell Hausfeld one. Had it 3 or 4 years now. No complaints. Gets the job done.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

[quote=Munchskull;1508725]For all of you with the Harbor freight rivet gun, how did yo remove the bottom cap to prime with fluid? It will not budge for me. I am on my second one and it will not come off. :mad:

they do need oil to operate i have had to add to mine several times. if it takes more than 3 trigger pulls it needs oil. there should be a wrench with the gun. on mine you use the "outside" of the wrench. it can be very tight. clamp the large part of the body in a vice.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

2815 had the Harbor Freight gun the last year I worked with them. Worked like a champ once we figured out the oil situation and installed the right items into our air supply, though we still used our hand riveter a good bit due to some tight spaces caused by using angle aluminum as a gusset rather than flat plates. These days, less of an issue.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

The translation of the rivet gun's operation manual from Chinese to English leaves a lot to be desired. It is not hydraulic in the traditional sense of using oil as a working fluid. It uses oil for lubrication. A few drops of light machine oil in the air inlet occasionally for lubrication is all that is need. No disassembly required. I use 3 in 1 oil.

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Yeah, you have to use the wrench that comes with it. Also bench vices' can be handy if you need a third hand!

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

I considered doing that as a gift to my new team but ordered this from Amazon.ca instead. It was $71 back in June when I ordered it, probably cost about the same or better than the HF after you factor in exchange and gas.

Allstar ALL18207
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B003BZQ6MW/

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

Just because you have 90psi does not mean you have enough flow(volume)to operate a pneumatic air tool. You need to look at the CFM on the compressor and air tool to make sure you have the volume.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

Well I sure hope that we have the CFM :rolleyes:. We are running it off the same air supply that we are running our shops CNC plasma.

You should be fine, a CNC plasma uses far more flow than a rivet gun.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

The crappiest air compressor you could buy is gonna be fine. a rivet gun should be like a fraction of 1 CFM. All those 5 gallon pancake compressors that people tend to have are at least 2-2.5 CFM.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

That's what I was getting at.

I have not actually seen the compressor but based on the fact that it supplies our metals shop, auto shop and jewelry lab I have a feeling it is pretty big.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

Can I power this rivet gun with an old (large) 12v. FRC compressor?

Dave

I've run it off our robot's pneumatic system a couple of times at competition. You will just need to add a couple air tanks and you should be fine.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

So here are the specs on the Northern gun, it takes much more air than one would think.


Specs
Item# 15761
Manufacturer's Warranty 12 months parts / 12 months labor
Ship Weight 6.0 lbs
Application Rivet tool
Working Pressure (PSI) 80–100
Rivet Size (in.) 3/16
Air Consumption (CFM) 4.2
Air Inlet Size (in. NPT) 1/4
Max. PSI 80
Additional Information

Parts List


One of the most important things to remember when dealing with pneumatic's is the volume of air required. The students on our team have had a hard time grasping this as well.

When looking at the specs this would make one of those "Crappiest Pancake compressors" below the specs needed to operate.

Boyles Law is a great thing to know when working with pneumatics

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

I don't think the CFM requirements are really as high as the instructions entail. I have the absolute crappiest compressor you can buy, rated at .7 CFM at 90 PSI (I think it was even worse in reality) and it was easily able to keep up with normal riveting work. Our robot's air system was also easily able to keep up with 4 air tanks attached.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

I have a really difficult time believing that rating is accurate. the Campbell Hausfeld one is likely identical to the Northern Tool one and any other similar appearance/price rivet gun and it is rated for 0.2 CFM.

I know the real world rating of a couple other things that are 2 and 4 CFM respectively and the volume of air being moved through them at 90 PSI is wayyyyyy more than a rivet gun.

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

Possibly an instantaneous CFM? The duty cycle of a pneumatic riveter is generally pretty dang low. Though I have no idea why they would even put that on the label.

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Sweet!

What kind of fitting will we need to power a Campbell Hausfeld Commercial CL153900AV Rivet Gun?
On Amazon it says "1/4-inch air inlet and minimum hose size of 3/8-inch"

Does that mean our standard 1/4" pipe threads to push fit fitting will work?
For example: 1/4"Tube X 1/4"MNPT Brass Prestolok Male Connector
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/ite...5247&catid=940

Re: Buying Pneumatic Rivet Gun
 

Quirkiness of standards for different stuff. Hose is generally based on ID. Tube is based on OD. 3/8 ID hose is a lot bigger than 1/4 OD tube. Rivet guns pull a lot of air for short bursts. For low riveting rates, the size of the storage tank is more important than the size of the compressor. You can get away with a short run of 1/4 tube, but it is not ideal.