pic: new shoes

[75vs1885]

on the original wheel , did you only rivet once? When we try the rivets are not reliable. We know why, but have a difficult time mastering riveting!!

[who716]

we took our andymark 6 in wheels on concrete for a day of presentations and by the end of the day brand new wheels were completely flat like yours

[BJT]

yes, we use plenty of rivets. never had any problems.

[BJT]

It was a parade that flattened these.

[snoman]

Originally Posted by 75vs1885

on the original wheel , did you only rivet once? When we try the rivets are not reliable. We know why, but have a difficult time mastering riveting!!

if you are not using a pneumatic rivet gun i suggest that you get one. they seem to tighten it up a lot more 70 or 80 bucks good investment use steel rivets to

[75vs1885]

Originally Posted by snoman

if you are not using a pneumatic rivet gun i suggest that you get one. they seem to tighten it up a lot more 70 or 80 bucks good investment use steel rivets to

I guess its a double whammy for me, lol, we use a hand rivet gun and aluminum rivets!!
We have a pneumatic rivet gun and i tried using it today but I need to practice.

[BJT]

we use a pneumatic rivet gun now, but have also had success with a good hand riveter. we drill through the tread and the wheel in one of the "dips" in the tread. when we rivet it by hand, I push down on the head of the gun real hard and a student runs the handle. If they get in good and tight aluminum rivets will work fine.

[sanddrag]

Once you get a pneumatic rivet puller, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. It's hands down our best tool under $100.

[R.C.]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

Once you get a pneumatic rivet puller, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. It's hands down our best tool under $100.

Under $50 actually. By far one of my favorite tools to have around the shop.

[Oblarg]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

Once you get a pneumatic rivet puller, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. It's hands down our best tool under $100.

When you factor in the cost of a compressor, it's not inexpensive. Unfortunately, neither of the teams I mentor has a compressed air line in their workspace.

A good hand riveter (all-metal construction with suitably long handles) works fine, in my experience.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Oblarg

When you factor in the cost of a compressor, it's not inexpensive. Unfortunately, neither of the teams I mentor has a compressed air line in their workspace.

A good hand riveter (all-metal construction with suitably long handles) works fine, in my experience.

If a team is doing rivets in any meaningful qty, spending a few hundred bucks for a nice riveter and small compressor is well worth it.

[Abhishek R]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

If a team is doing rivets in any meaningful qty, spending a few hundred bucks for a nice riveter and small compressor is well worth it.

We had our first experience with an air-powered riveter this past year. Especially after doing the entire prototype robot by hand, I couldn't believe how we had survived without that tool. Made things go by faster and without less stress on a few select students ^^

[g_sawchuk]

Wow, someone sure has been using those wheels. We had a demo on pavement, but we limited skid turns, so by the end, they were only a bit worn down. Then we replaced them for an off season event.

[Oblarg]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

If a team is doing rivets in any meaningful qty, spending a few hundred bucks for a nice riveter and small compressor is well worth it.

I think it depends on what you mean by "meaningful quantity." If you're putting together a tube-and-gusset chassis, it's not all that difficult to do your riveting by hand. It's still faster than bolting the assembly together.

If you're doing sheet metal, I can see how it would be a real pain to have to do all your rivets manually.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Oblarg

I think it depends on what you mean by "meaningful quantity." If you're putting together a tube-and-gusset chassis, it's not all that difficult to do your riveting by hand. It's still faster than bolting the assembly together.

If you're doing sheet metal, I can see how it would be a real pain to have to do all your rivets manually.

We do tube and gusset for pretty much every system. We did't have a pneumatic riveter until 2011, and did hand until then.

It's certainly meaningful quantity, and it's certainly worth it. The time saved is huge.

I like to think of labor in terms of minimum wage. If the cost of a tool saves enough labor that it's "making" more than minimum wage, it's worth it (as our kids make well above minimum wage when they're out fundraising). The flipside is true too... any fabrication we do that "saves" less than minimum wage is a bad decision, and should be a COTS item.

Too many teams work themselves for below minimum wage.