Stanley Rivet Gun

To begin lets go over what a rivet is and how it works.

The gun is fed over the rivet's shaft and the ball at the end of it goes into your pre-drilled hole. When the gun is squeezed, that ball on the rivet's tail is drawn towards the hole to secure, compressing the metal sleeve between the ball and the head. This forms another "head" (the flat part that has a tiny hole) on the opposing side to the work piece, drawing the work together and holding it securely in place. The shaft breaks, or "pops" when the rivet is in place.

Now that we have that down lets get into the review.

We REALLY like the #Stanley #Swivel head #Manual #rivet gun.

Here's why..

Like most people about to purchase anything for long term use, we did our due diligence in #researching. Out of all of the research, the Stanley hand held riveter with a swivel head, was better to get than the #Milwaukee version which did not swivel making it harder to reach cornered areas.

As with any of the #products that you read #reviews on, there will always be that one person that just happens to get a bad one or complains about it regardless of its performance. A few people complained that the hand held version made their arms and hands fall asleep. We however, did not have this problem. Chris does have strong forearms to begin with, however I could use the tool just as easily and I am half his size.

We have done a smallish project (our couch) and a few here and there fixings. Update- We have since used it for the entirety of the Airstream reno, and it has held up tremendously. No complaints!

We used over 150 rivets alone for the couch, we did have a couple of bad batches of rivets, but we did use the #ACE brand version.

Since we are in an #Airstream our rivets where aluminum. (fun fact: steel and aluminium can not be joined together as the steel will corrode the aluminum). Some of the rivets did break and not end up being flush how it was supposed to.

The swivel head on the Stanley was very useful, which was one of the reasons we got this one specifically. There wasn’t really a problem with the #tool itself other than sometimes the stem of the rivet would get stuck in the head of the tool, but it did not interfere with the actual work ability of the tool itself. It would either slide out before putting the next stem in or the next stem would make it move. So not exactly a problem, unless you are impatient. But if you are impatient they make pneumatic versions as well.

Please remember that when using the riveter, DO NOT jerk at it or be timid about putting pressure on the tool itself to get the rivet to smash into itself and become flush as well as break off the extra stem. This tool is meant for pressure, that is how it makes the rivet to begin with. We are not saying, however, to be excessively rough with it either. Just fluid motions and you will be on your way with the project you are doing.

Again, to reiterate we are using all #aluminum rivets and do not know how the #steel rivets would react to the riveter itself or if there are any problems with that.

Overall We do recommend the Stanley Swivel head riveter, especially since we will be using it a lot in the repairs and updates of our home.

Please feel free to comment about your own experience with the Stanley or any of the other brands of rivet guns. We are curious and would love to know what did or did not work for you as well as any tips you may have in the renovation process.

-The Whitten’s-