Axminster air riveter

[rjahunter]

Anyone buy one of these following the article in PC this month ? Looks great, arrived in 36 hours, but I cannot work out how to pressurise it as I have a 3/8 female quick release coupling on my compressor, and the riveter comes with 1/4 male "hose end" connectors to screw into its pressurising socket ! Any help would be great.

Richard

[Duncan Skye]

Hi Richard,

I haven't read my PC this month but have bought air tools before and they often come with various end fittings (usually the cheapest to manufacture) depending on make. Take a look on the Machine Mart web site and you'll see enough connectors there to help you out. It'll just be a case of unscrewing the 'hose end' fitting from the riveter and substituting the one that fits your airline QR coupling. Note that there are two types of male fitting which look like they can be used on the QR coupling, but that's not so - one isn't long enough. Just make sure you identify the correct one. Use a few turns of PTFE tale when fitting the connector to the tool and don't be tempted to over-tighten it.

Hope that helps,

Duncan, Skye

[XFSTag]

Hi Richard as Duncan says
I would pop into the local machine mart the chaps are normally helpful and some of the airline fittings are slightly different which isn't easy to see on a pictures.
I'm a big fan of air tools now and am amassing a fair collection. Latest was an air shear, I got this from Aldi great value ! Even bought a packets of fig rolls for when I'm in the garage whilst I was in there
Some of the air tools I have bought have had the quick release which is different to the normal pcl one I use machine mart have most of them and you can make sure you get the right fit then.
Cheers
Glyn

[dasadrew]

Sorry for asking the dumb question, but how many rivets do you have to be putting in to make it desirable to have a compressed air pop rivet gun?

There do seem to be several standards for those quick-disconnnect fittings which all look deceptively similar. Had to change all of mine when I went from Germany to France, so it's not even an inch-vs.-metric problem.

Drew

[XFSTag]

Drew I haven't got one but having built a Westfield a few years ago I would have loved one. The number of rivets I got through on that was no joke. All of the ally and fibreglass body sections/panels were attached with rivets. Great way to build up your arm muscles though
Cheers Glyn

[rjahunter]

Sorry for asking the dumb question, but how many rivets do you have to be putting in to make it desirable to have a compressed air pop rivet gun?

There do seem to be several standards for those quick-disconnnect fittings which all look deceptively similar. Had to change all of mine when I went from Germany to France, so it's not even an inch-vs.-metric problem.

Drew

Not a dumb question Drew (I've taught myself that there is no such thing on the forum !), but I agree that it does depend on what job you have to do.

Firstly, a big thanks to Machine Mart in Glasgow who sorted me out with new 1/4 bhp fittings for my compressor and saved me the cost of a new one. Secondly, despite the Practical Classics accolade, I have to say that the instructions on the Axminster riveter are possibly the worst I've ever seen. Straight from China with no UK interpretation and useless. HOWEVER, I also have to say the riveter is going immediately to No 1 spot in "Best Gadget Purchased" for the fantastic job it does when doing a load of rivets. I was fitting the sill strips which hold the top of the stainless finishers along the sills, and did it very thoroughly to have a good fit with no gaps. I ended up with 16 rivets on each side at 11cm intervals. The air riveter did the entire job (after I had done the careful drilling bit) in about 5 minutes flat. If I'd used a manual one I'd still be at it.

I agree with Glyn about the usefulness of air tools generally. They feel safer with no electric cables running around and are quick to use.

Richard