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4x rivet gun

C

calvid

Member
Hi, new builder here. My RV-14A tail kit should be arriving soon. I bought a bunch of tools but I need a rivet gun and someone has offered me one for free, but it's a 4x rivet gun. Is that a bad idea? I'm wondering if I'm more likely to mess up with a 4x and my savings on the gun is just going back into replacement parts.

I've never held a rivet gun in my life, so there's going to be a learning curve and practice in either case.
 
Trigger

I built an RV8 with a 4x. I believe it is most important to have a good trigger so you can control how many impacts you put on a rivet. You should be able to strike it once, three times or however many it takes to set set the rivet correctly. Controlling the number of strikes insures consistency. Set the power by adjusting air pressure
 
I prefer a larger gun to minimize the number of strikes on a rivet, but a 4X is a big gun for the size rivets on a Vans aircraft. As the other poster indicated pressure setting and trigger control or critical with that size gun. It’s very easy to overdrive a rivet.
 
Wwwwaaaaaaayyyyyy more gun than needed. Sure, you can turn the air down some to compensate, but the gun is still bigger and heavier than necessary, not to mention the potential to over drive the cr*p out of a rivet if you don’t get the air pressure set right. Bigger gun will not fit many of the tight spaces in typical RV assembly. And heavier will be an issue for every rivet…..becomes an issue when you have a lot of rivets to drive.

Mine was built almost exclusively with a 2x gun. I occasionally borrowed a 3x to use on particularly stiff areas of the airframe.
 
WOW unless you want a big dent in the pretty plane you are building I would steer away from using it on any small rivets.
A great deal to get it for free, take it as you may have use for it.
But, unless you use these guns for a career get a smaller one
I've been using tools for the last 55 years and don't use a 4X
As said trigger control, trigger control, trigger control, You can do it. Then there is that.
BUT, there is that one time you goof up and it will really show.
Stuff happens all the time. And big dents do not come out.
My luck varies Fixit
 
I started out with a 2X gun. Too small for a lot of the 1/8" rivets. Then bought a 3X gun which was "just right". Haven't used the 2X since. I'd say the 4X is too big and you'll regret using it even if it is "free". Suggest you get some experience with a good 3X with good trigger control, say on Vans practice kits.
 
The price is right. I'd say grab it and practice a bunch on non-aircraft parts. It certainly can't hurt anything to play with it while you decide if you want to splurge on a 3x.

Having said that, Using 4x gun for -3 rivets is sort of like trying to build a birdhouse with a 28oz framing hammer. Yeah, you can do it, but it sure would be nice to have the right tool for the job. So unless you're on a really, really, tight budget, a 3x gun with a good trigger that feathers well and a tungsten bucking bar are probably two if the best investments to make. You're going to be shooting thousands of -3 rivets, so it's not frivolous to get the right tools for the job.
 
brad walton said:
I built an RV8 with a 4x. I believe it is most important to have a good trigger so you can control how many impacts you put on a rivet. You should be able to strike it once, three times or however many it takes to set set the rivet correctly. Controlling the number of strikes insures consistency. Set the power by adjusting air pressure.
Click to expand...

I agree. I started out with a 2X gun on my 9A project and found it was too small for 1/8" rivets and sometimes hard to control. My tech counselor suggested I switch to a 4X gun because it hits slower and would give me greater control. He was right, and I finished the entire airframe with the 4X gun.
 
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