General Purpose Riveter Tool Recommendation

[Northern_Lights]

I've never had my own riveter tool and would like to add one to my shop. Looks like Astro brand is popular and has a good reputation. What specific model (or better yet a kit) would you guys recommend for a good, all-around hand tool for general purpose shop work? Vehicle work, sleds, ATVs, home equipment, tinkering, etc...? Thanks!

 

[ecotec]

What kind of rivets do you want to use with it? Blind rivets?

I just have a Marson HP-2. If you have a lot of rivets, it beats the **** out of your hands. It is or was the standard for small hand riveters. For tiny jobs, it is great.

 

[Mike007]

I would suggest the Milwaukee M12 or a decent pneumatic like Arrow as a cheaper option. Manual rivet guns are too slow IMO.

 

[Citation]

What type of rivets? Pop, buck, hot, ones on your blue jeans?

 

[Mike007]

What type of rivets? Pop, buck, hot, one ones on your blue jeans?

Good question. I just assumed the OP was referring to pop rivets.

 

[GeoBruin]

I can't recommend the m12 riveter enough. I had a cheap arrow hand riveter from home depot and then I bought a 1970 airstream and my riveting went through the roof. Now I only use the hand riveter if it's just too tight to get the m12 into position but it makes pulling tons of rivets a breeze.

 

[ohhimark]

I have a Dayton braded rivet gun that I think is a relabeled Marson, it is nicer than the pressed steel ones. I bought an affordable Titan one for plastic rivets. If you find yourself using it a lot, maybe consider an electric or pneumatic one.

 

[CGarage]

Milwaukee

 

[dnschmidt]

Astro makes one that attaches to a drill. Makes it a bit long but it works well.

 

[Northern_Lights]

What type of rivets? Pop, buck, hot, ones on your blue jeans?

Mostly pop.

 

[Northern_Lights]

Thanks for the responses! I honestly didn't even know Milwaukee made a riveter. I'll have to check it out. Please feel free to keep adding to this post if you have good experience to share. Thanks!

 

[danski0224]

Mostly pop.

Size (diameter/length), material?

 

[bornbadbob]

Size (diameter/length), material?

Application would be good too are you going to use lots of rivets or just a few now and then, if a Milwaukee is in the budget I would go for that. Mind you, if you’re only doing a couple dozen rivets a year, a hand one will do fine

 

[danski0224]

I honestly didn't even know Milwaukee made a riveter.

They make two, M12 and M18. Big price difference between them.

The 1/4" diameter rivet seems to be the break point for tool cost- see the Milwaukee items above.

I have a Marson and the Milwaukee M12. For 1/8" rivets, the Milwaukee is great.

I had to set some 1/4" rivets at work, and the shop rat err, tool guy, bought the cheapest piece of junk he could from Harbor Freight, and it lasted for about 4 pulls.

A FSI D-100-MIL will do rivets and set nutserts. Not the cheapest option, and if you buy an old one, even NOS from the big auction site, it probably needs to be rebuilt (which isn't too bad to have done).

 

[YesIHaveAHammer]

I'm aware of one hand riveters, two handle ones (like tree branch loppers), scissor frame ones, and drill attachments.

Is there anything innovative that is both compact and low effort? e.g. using some leverage mechanism, gearing or ratcheting.

 

[GeoBruin]

I'm aware of one hand riveters, two handle ones (like tree branch loppers), scissor frame ones, and drill attachments.

Is there anything innovative that is both compact and low effort? e.g. using some leverage mechanism, gearing or ratcheting.

This Vessel option looks interesting. Not necessarily more compact but the stroke looks reduced/easier.

Hand Riveter RATCHET RIVET GUN https://a.co/d/fzp33Xt

 

[imagineer]

I have a Harbor Freight pneumatic riveter and other than the nose piece breaking (by me), the tool still works. It does a decent job.
During projects that use a lot of rivets, I found I needed to disassemble and clean metal shavings from the gripper jaws.

Depending on the size of the rivet and thickness of material, I adjust the air pressure accordingly.

 

[bonneyman]

The best pop riveter I've found is the Emhart tool. Unless you're going to be doing dozens of rivets at a time it work fine. Fairly ergonomic, durable, and works nice. Out of production but you might be able to find one in old inventory at hand tool warehouses.

 

[Northern_Lights]

Size (diameter/length), material?

Just general home shop use... could be a mower repair one day and then a bird feeder project the next.

 

[Northern_Lights]

Application would be good too are you going to use lots of rivets or just a few now and then, if a Milwaukee is in the budget I would go for that. Mind you, if you’re only doing a couple dozen rivets a year, a hand one will do fine

I'd say more towards a few now and then, although might be more depending on project. Just general home shop use. The Milwaukee looks like a nice tool.

 

[RTM]

I have an astro 1423 that I bought second hand from a guy that converted van interiors. He was updating to a powered system. I've only set two or three rivets with it but the two-handed approach is much easier than trying to single hand it, or getting two hands on a one-handed tool. It's sized like a small pair of bolt cutters though

Astro Pneumatic 1423 13" Heavy Duty Hand Riveter https://share.google/PhTRWMl645PjIE6Xw

 

[B_Bimmer]

Cheapest and best is wait for a clean marson kit to pop up on ebay. They were rebranded by all the trucks and come up in clean condition oft3n.

 

[tool_scrounge]

A FSI D-100-MIL will do rivets and set nutserts. Not the cheapest option, and if you buy an old one, even NOS from the big auction site, it probably needs to be rebuilt (which isn't too bad to have done).

I really like the hand operated FSI D-100-MIL hydraulic riveter. There are good deals out there in used ones.

 

[tarbellb]

Marson HP-2 is your best option for a reliable, effective, cheap, DIY tool

Easy to find MiUSA older models on eBay all day long

 

[bwringer]

I inherited a grody old air pop riveter of indeterminate brand some while back, and that thing is pure luxury. Get everything right where you want it and squeeze-ker-pop it's done.

For handheld, the Doyle and Quinn versions at Horrible Fright work just fine. The really cheap "fasten-pro" versions are useless.

 

[GeoBruin]

Lots of good suggestions here.

I hope I'm not derailing the thread by asking a pop-riveter related question.

I constantly find myself needing to rivet something in a confined space, or very close to a lip/wall and the nose of the riveter just won't fit. The nose on my m12 is particularly fat, so I often find myself using a manual riveter because the nose is somewhat slimmer, but it's often still too fat.

I would love something with a really skinny nose. I've seen the extended versions with the long snout, but they're not any thinner. I appreciate that the nose has to be big enough for the jaws and of course the rivet shank, but it still seems excessive.

Alternatively, are there any other suggested methods for pulling rivets right next to an obstruction?

 

[KnurledNut]

Lots of good suggestions here.

I hope I'm not derailing the thread by asking a pop-riveter related question.

I constantly find myself needing to rivet something in a confined space, or very close to a lip/wall and the nose of the riveter just won't fit. The nose on my m12 is particularly fat, so I often find myself using a manual riveter because the nose is somewhat slimmer, but it's often still too fat.

I would love something with a really skinny nose. I've seen the extended versions with the long snout, but they're not any thinner. I appreciate that the nose has to be big enough for the jaws and of course the rivet shank, but it still seems excessive.

Alternatively, are there any other suggested methods for pulling rivets right next to an obstruction?

A small homemade wedge with a hole to clear the rivet mandrel can be used to angle the rivet gun nose away from the obstruction while still setting it flush. A corner rivet puller is used in aviation, which is just a fancy version of the same thing.
https://www.aircraft-tool.com/detail?id=AE5012

Getting back to the main discussion:
Regarding hand rivet tools, I've used Marson HP-2's for years secularly. I recently bought a new one and noticed it was no longer made in USA. Come to find out this has been the case for some time and I wasn't aware of the change in country of origin.
For "metric" rivets (3,2 4,0 4,8), I prefer to use my Gesipa NTX. ;-)

Also, often overlooked is using quality rivets. They are equally important as the tool setting them, even more so in critical applications. I have used a lot of cheap ones because that is what was provided but the resulting connection is sometimes questionable. Better ones have more repeatable results and tend to set tighter. The POP Avdel rivets by Stanley are reliable.