yes

no. I have had very few get stuck (even in my 4.99 harbor freight special).

 

Yes pumping the handle will depend on the length of rivets as well. Make sure you are using the right "die: for the rivets you need. Some times you can insert another rivet and push the old shank out.

Mike O.

 

I did my whole car by hand and it is not a big deal. I have access to borrow any tool I need from work and did not bother to get a pnumatic riviter. Yes some of them take more than 1 pull, it depends on how long the rivit is. If you don't bend them they will fall out when you open the handles. After the holes are drilled you can do them in a few seconds each.
David W

 

Originally posted by David Williamson:
If you don't bend them they will fall out when you open the handles.

See, that's what I was thinking, but after they snap off the teeth have basically locked the tail-end of the rivet in place (and hence why I have to take it apart - to loosen the teeth so they let it go). Rivets are going in straight, so I'm not certain why the teeth keep clamped on them and arn't leeting them go

 

Are you making sure that you have opened the handle as much as possible? Some riveters stop just short of "free" so that you can maneuver it tool into place while hoilding the rivet in place. After "popping" the rivet the intermediate position won't release the shank.

 

I have jerk the handle open to get the nail to eject on my hand riveter.

Of course it doesn't help that I have twisted the handle into a pretzel trying to pull 3/16 steel rivets on a finished car with no working space.

 

In my experiance:
1 yes
2 no, they usually fall right out.

Mike

 

Originally posted by tvolfan:
Are you making sure that you have opened the handle as much as possible? Some riveters stop just short of "free" so that you can maneuver it tool into place while hoilding the rivet in place. After "popping" the rivet the intermediate position won't release the shank.

Yep, here's the problem:

rivet goes in nicely

rivet 'pops' nicely

I open up the riveter's handles and the tail-end starts to slide out but stops - the black teeth in the 2nd nossel are holding it tight and refuse to let go. I took pliers and tried to yank it out with all my strength, but no go!

For some reason those black teeth that hold the rivet just arn't letting go when I open the handles - should I try spraying wd-40 on them perhaps to slacken the grip on them???

 

Here is a link to a recent post of mine which relates to this subject.

http://www.ffcars.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php/ubb/get_topic/f/1/t/085590/p/1.html#000019

Chris.

 

I think you need a different riveter. I used a cheapo with no trouble and the nails(?) just fell out when I took the pressure off the handles.

 

EFN, as much as David says he loves riviting (he drilled the first hole in my cobra) do yourself a favor and spend $69.00 for an air riviter at Princess Auto. 1/8" rivits are ok, but wait till the 3/16"! Then think about the 1000 + rivits to come. As for your question--- your riviter is junk, the spent stalks should fall out easily front or back.

Troy

 

Okay, I"ll probably go and pick up a new one tomorrow to try. Knowing my luck this one probably is junk

 

If you bend the riveter at all while squeezing the handle it bends the "Tail" and it gets stuck in the jaws. LOVE my pneumatic.

 

B.A.V

RR

 

I agree with HOzr you are probably bending the rivet. Try to keep it perfectly perpendicular.

I also agree with 7tvette, spend a few bucks on a pneumatic riveter. You can find them a lot cheaper than $69. I got mine from Eastwood. A lot of people have gotten them from Harbor Freight. There will be times after you have fit up a couple panels when you need to do over 100 rivets at once. Also, sometimes you will have to be pushing in real hard while riveting to get a panel to sit flat. It is a lot easier to do with an air riveter.

 

Wait... one more idea... make sure you are using the right sized "tip" for the rivet.... if the "tip" hole opening is too big.... you will have problems.

 

Get a pneumatic at Harbor Freight for $26.99. Mine is still working great.... for someone who borrowed it.

 

Two thoughts: carpal tunnel is not fun and activities like this gets you closer to chronic pain;
air riveters alledgedly do a better job of clamping materials together. Money well spent, I would think.

 

SR71 and Magnus are right on, had the same problem w/the 3/16 rivets, simply too large for the head of the pneumatic riveter, AND time time time

 

I'm going to say also check the size of the tip. The pnuematic riveter tips are slightly different lengths in addition to the different hole size for the rivet shaft. The wrong length of tip for the wrong shaft size of rivet will allow the tail shaft to hang up in the jaws. This happened to me at first until I figured it out.

Mike M.

 

There is an adjustment on the top of the riveter use a flat head screwdriver to back it off and you should not have more trouble.

Chris

 

When using the manual rivet tool, yes, I have to pull each left over piece out of the tool, but I don't have to take the "nozzles" off to do so.
Get the Harbor Freight tool mentioned above or similar pneumatic tool; you may still have to remove the remains by hand but your hands will appreciate the relief.

 

Good news - finally figured it out

I got a heavy-duty industrial strength riveter, and they figured only stupid people (i.e., me) wouldn't need directions with it.

Anyways, turns out you had to oil (wd-40) the teeth. Doing that made it grip nicely and release properly. Who would have thought the solution was so simple.


On a side-note, if I were using one of those squeezing type hand riveters I couldn't begin to image the problems (i.e., carpal tunnel). I was using a few in the store today and they just hurt my wrist after a while. However, the heavy duty grade is pretty easy/seemless to use:

(kinda like this one)

 

I agree with Todd Buttrick, get an air riveter from Harbor Freight. You have 1000 rivets and an entire car to build. You need to take short cuts where can and this is one of them. Spend your time drilling holes and finishing the project.

 

Yes to all above and keep body parts away from the handle when it snaps off. I was using my thigh for leverage on a bracket and left a nice pinch mark the size of a nickel on my thigh.