You can find a pack adapter for pretty much any tool brand to another, I canāt exactly recommend the usage of them given my job description, but they are an option. The worry with adapters is they eliminate all the smarts they pay us engineers so much for between the pack and the tool, which depending on the tool can lead to unfortunate situations like the battery being drained so low it cannot charge again. Form factor and durability can also cause issues depending on the tool/pack.
The M12 rivet gun is really great for FRC applications, my team paid full price for one before I mentored and it has paid for itself so many times over. DeWalt came out with a similar one not too long ago, might be worth seeing if there are any Black Friday sales in a month here and scooping up one of those instead of the adapter route.
We were in essentially this exact predicament a few years back.
We ended up purchasing the M12 rivet gun and 2 small batteries the 1st year, but kept all our old Ryobi tools for everything else. Then, over the course of the next 2 years slowly started purchasing more and more of the new brand of tools.
You donāt need to switch everything over immediately if cost is a barrier. Itās certainly more convenient if every tool in your shop uses the same battery, but IMO not a deal breaker for a few years while you slowly transition to the new brand.
Itās not too bad to have a special tool on a different system. We have a m12 bandsaw, and rigid everything else. We keep the m12 battery and charger with the bandsaw and itās no problem. Might be more annoying to be 50/50 in 2 systems.
Thatās also the way a lot of people will tell you to build out a toolkit/shop: you only buy what you need, or will need in the near future, and buy it in your preferred ecosystem. If the ecosystem changes, replace what you need to replace with new stuff as you need to replace it.
The DeWalt oneās mandrel collector likes to jam up a lot, thatās the main gotcha with it. I also havenāt had great experiences with DeWalt tools overall, but the collector jamming repeatedly is not fun.
We use the Harbor Freight riveter in the shop, but now travel with the drill adaptor (rev 3) from that thread, been good for 2 seasons so far. We want the M12 badly but itās hard to justify the cost when we already have 2 riveters at home. Once a year, I write to Ryobi and Ridgid and ask them to please make a riveter.
Adding another recommendation for the M12 Rivet Gun. We also paid full price for our first one and loved it so much we prioritized getting a second one when Milwaukee donated tools to teams in the area.
Another bonus of the M12 line is that the drills are great for small hands (which was super important when we had a fleet of 7th graders a few years ago), and they are light and compact so working at awkward angles is a bit easier. The combo kits (drill, impact, batteries and charger) for the non-Fuel line can be found for close to the same price as Ryobi kits.
They can be a little under powered compared to 18-24V class tools, but I see this as a benefit sometimes as it can prevent students over-torquing fasteners.
For the occasional riveter, the Astro 1423 and its āuse your biceps not your grip strengthā approach is still my favorite. At under $30 on Amazon, hard to go wrong.
Iāve heard nothing but praise on the M12 unit, we just donāt rivet enough (or have other M12 equipment) to make it a budget priority.
Yes, the Wisconsin team are spoiled with the Milwaukee Tool donations of refurbished tools. I canāt speak highly enough about the M12 Rivet Gun. It makes assembly so much faster. We make the new kids do 5 rivets manually before they get to the use the M12 rivet gun to appreciate how easy it makes it.
I have had the same experience with the two Dewalt riveters I have used. They can be made to work but will be hassle, I would estimate the mean time between failures to be about 20 rivets.
