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c/aircraft-mechanicscarr.xenacarr.xena21d agoProlific Poster

I finally caught why my rivet gun was chattering so bad on thin aluminum

Been doing sheet metal work for maybe 6 years now. Last Wednesday I was working on a Cessna 172 flap panel in the hangar at KAPA. Every other rivet was chattering no matter how I adjusted the pressure. My lead mechanic Ted walks over, watches me for 30 seconds, then says "you got the trigger pinned all the way back dude." I'd been squeezing the trigger fully every time like it was a drill. He showed me to pulse it light and let the gun do the work. Night and day difference. Anyone else have a basic habit that took years to unlearn?
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holly898
holly89820d ago
You just described exactly what I did with a bucking bar for way too long. Learning to ease up on the pressure fixed my arms too.
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joseph529
joseph52915d ago
Gotta admit, I was one of those guys who thought more pressure equaled better results. Watched a few old-timers make it look easy with barely any force and figured they were just lucky. Took me way too long to realize they were actually smarter about it than I was. Your experience pretty much proves the point that technique beats muscle every time.
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