Rivet gun buying guide

If you're not set up for welding, items such as sheet metal, steel tanks and metal furniture can be fastened with basic rivets as long as you can access both sides of the joint you need to make.

On the other hand, if you don't have access on both sides you can always use 'blind' or 'pop' rivets. This revolutionary invention dating back to 1940 has simplified the task of riveting metal objects and paved the way to a range of industrial and design applications.

A form of cold riveting, the process requires the use of a specialized piece of equipment: riveting pliers. This way of working, with a manual tool, is effective for short-run riveting tasks, but can quickly become problematic if you have a large volume of work to do. Here, the best solution is without a doubt the riveter or riveting gun - battery-powered or pneumatic.

In general, a riveter looks similar to a power drill. Instead of a chuck, it has a system of interchangeable clamps selected according to rivet size, which allow you to apply force to the body of a rivet until it deforms. You know from the characteristic clink that the rivet is properly embedded.

There are two types of power riveters:

• battery-powered electric models

• pneumatic (or oleo-pneumatic) models

Electric riveter

Electric models are often used for multiple riveting in difficult-to-access locations. For this reason, most models run on batteries.

Pneumatic riveter

These models run on compressed air, and as such require the addition of a compressor of sufficient power to drive the riveter. As a rough guide, riveting consumes about 1.5 litres of air per cycle, at a pressure of 5-7 bars. A quick calculation based on the number of rivets you have to install will give you an idea of the volume of compressed air you need to have on hand to avoid hold-ups while working.

Blind rivets come in a range of lengths and diameters. They can be more or less difficult to install, depending on their material - steel, copper, aluminium or stainless steel. You should choose the length based on the total width of the pieces being assembled plus an allowance of 5mm to allow for rivet deformation.

For best results, your metal sheet (etc.) should be drilled to a diameter 0.1mm greater than the rivet diameter. When choosing your machine, take the following into account:

• maximum working length

• range of interchangeable jaws (clamps)

• rivet capacity

• maximum force in Newtons (typically 5-10,000 N)

• bulkiness

• noise level

• recovery of spent rivet shaft (whether the machine includes a recovery trough)

• battery charge time (for electric models)

Note that if you intend to make intensive use of your riveter, it's a good idea to have spare parts and consumables on hand, especially drive heads as they take a lot of wear.

Nowadays the use of blind rivets is a well-practised art among experienced metalworkers. If you're a professional and you want to maximize your work rate, you can get a multi-head machine which can insert a row of rivets automatically in rapid succession. All the rivets are held on a single shaft, allowing them to be installed in series without having to reload between shots.

You can also get devices which automatize the installation of crimping nuts. These powerful machines work in a similar way to riveters, except with specialized nuts and bolts. Sometimes forces of up to 18,000 N are required - many models offer an adjustable force setting for different types of nuts.

Some manufacturers have adopted a helpful colour-coding system for easy correspondence between nuts and machine settings. Sometimes a single bolt can be used to fasten together multiple thicknesses.

Still other variants can be had to fasten blind rivets into other materials such as hollow brick, PVC or wood. Choosing the right kind of rivets is important in these cases - specialized rivets for softer materials deform in a star-shaped pattern like plastic rawlplugs.

Rivets can be removed easily with an electric power drill. Drill into the rivet with a bit of the same or a slightly smaller diameter than the rivet. If you want to keep and reuse the metal sheet, there are certain precautions to take. Use an adjustable depth stop on your drill/a> to avoid damaging the surface with the drill chuck.

Riveting work using blind rivets and an electric or pneumatic machine is a useful alternative to assembly by welding. In many ways it's a neater process, although it does require a good understanding of the assembly you're trying to perform.

Don't forget to keep your eyes protected with a pair of safety goggles and preserve your hearing with a noise-cancelling helmet (up to 80 dB).

To find out more about DIY topics, follow our editors' advice and check out their other guides:

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