How Does a Pop Rivet Gun Operate?
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Introduction
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A pop rivet gun can be used for such things as auto body work, patchwork on mobile homes or flashing around chimneys. Rivets are fasteners much like nails, and are used to secure one piece of metal to another. Pop rivets are not as strong as some of the other rivets, so they are used for fastening light metals, such as tin. They are sometimes called blind rivets because one can't see the other side of the object being riveted. Pop rivets are cylindrical in shape with a mandrel in the center and look much like nails. You use the pop rivet gun to smash it through the metal and cut off the long end. Pop rivets are made from aluminum, steel, and copper. They are used on stationary projects because vibrations might make them fall out. Pop rivets are available in flat head, countersunk head and modified flush heads. They are called pop rivets because of the sound that is made when the rivet breaks at its predetermined breaking point.
What the Pop Rivet Gun Looks Like
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A pop rivet gun operates by using a rivet to join two pieces of metal. The rivet gun is made much like a pair of pliers in the sense of the long handle. The top of the rivet gun is made of wheels or ratchets. They are attached to the handles. Before using the gun, one would drill a hole in the object that is going to be riveted. The rivet is then loaded in the gun.
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Loading the Pop Rivet Gun
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When loading the rivet gun, the long narrow end of the rivet is placed into the gun. The handle is squeezed until the rivet pops. The gun may have to be squeezed a few times before it will pop. The pop is a way to ensure the rivet has entered the metal. When the rivet pops, the head of the rivet has expanded, fastening together the two objects.
Operating the Pop Rivet Gun
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When the handles are squeezed together, the wheels start to turn, creating a force that pulls the pin of the rivet into the rivet gun. The head of the rivet gets flattened and the rivet pin breaks in a pre-weakened spot, allowing the materials to be joined and leaving behind a flattened head
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