My CHT132 lazy tongs riveter broke yesterday. It's not quite two years old and has only done 200 rivets. I emailed Clarke for spare parts availability. Here's part of the reply:
"Good Morning, We are sorry to hear of the experience you have had with your riveter. Unfortunately we do not have any replacement jaws in stock, We are awaiting for jaws to come into our stock."
No indication of when, but I suspect I'm just being fobbed off. So I won't be buying any more Clarke items.
Bill
Riveters these days typically don't seem to last 5m unless you pay £££££££ £££££ for something fancy.
it's why most of us don't buy from MM unless out of other options.
NT
+1, that said *some* of their stuff is OK. And it is sometimes useful to be able to handle and rummage through their bits.
I forget where my lazy tongs came from, it was certainly not super expensive and has behaved faultlessly for decades.
Agreed, especially when on a special etc where the 'Clarke' branded stuff is the similar price to the non branded clones found elsewhere.
If you buy something that is mostly 'passive' (just a big casting / basic lump of metal, like my bench grinder floor stand) then you can't really go wrong but with my metal cutting band saw, the machine was let down by cr*p bearings (all replaced with quality versions and has been fine ever since).
Too dangerous for me ... too many things that weren't on my shopping list. ;-(
If we are talking of the riveter, unless I knew I would only be using it lightly or for the lower end of it's advertised range, that might be the sort of thing I would look for in a 'better' brand. The reason is that the pivots / rivets might be weak (hollow tin) or gripping jaws not well hardened etc?
Cheers, T i m
What's the advantage of the lazy tong type? Far more bits to break than a lever one. And not going to fit into a confined space so easily.
Mechanical advantage - think how far the handle moves on a concertina riveter compared to the pliers type and you'll see that each in-out action gets a lot more work done.
it gets exactly the same work done
NT
Not when you can get a lot more rivets set in a hour etc.
I remmeber from physics something about Mechanical advantage divided by velocity ratio multiplied by 100/1 gives the efficiency. well I remmebred if for the exams anyway.
Yes - I'd sort of guessed that. But can't say I've found the effort needed with my lever one excessive.
It's the physical size of the tongs type I'd find a problem with for much of the things I use pop rivets for.
What's probably needed is an electric one at a good price.
No, it does the same work in all cases. But yes humans can cope better with the lower forces on the hand, so more can be done.
NT
This is all true, but the other point everyone has missed is that with a lazy tongs you are pressing the head of the rivet firmly into the top piece of metal so that you potentially get a much more secure fixing. With a pliers, especially with larger rivets, it is a lot of effort to squeeze the handles together, you can't always press the rivet head home at the same time. You may end up expanding the rivet into the clearances before the head is properly home.
Does assume you always rivet to something solid, though. Not the case here quite often.
It's not much for the odd couple of rivets but when I've done more than a few my wrist started to seize up (carpal tunnel?).
That's certainly a factor in favour of the small ones.
You can get blind rivet attachments for cordless screwdrivers, or dedicated mains or rechargeable riveters, but I think I'd go with pneumatic if I had a lot to do.
Not per stroke.
Just make sure the hole isn't burred and the rivet is pressed flat against the surface before you start expanding it. If necessary you can place the rivet in the hole and tap it flush before putting the tool on it. Use one hand to press the head against the work while the other squeezes the handle - you don't need to maintain pressure once the rivet starts to bulge (assuming you've drilled the right size hole).
So more work is done per hour.
Of course it does, it's elementary physics. The rivetter's output is identical to the plier type, same amount of force over same distance.
NT
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