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Riveting Helper Commands

dstates

Well Known Member
I'm still waiting on my kit, but have done some small riveting jobs in the past where it took two people. We didn't have a plan for what to say to start and stop the rivet gun trigger pull. We ended up repeating ourselves quite a bit and it slowed us down. We did try to stay away from "GO" and "NO" as that would have been tough to tell a difference with the volume of the rivet gun.

What "commands" do you and your riveting partner use when working together?
 
Ready, Go

"Ready" when rivet is in the hole and ready for the bucker to position the bucking bar.
"Go" when the bucking bar is in place and time to start the rivet gun.

Learned that from George Orndorf many years ago.
 
And follow up from the bucking bar guy if the rivet is not done:
- again
- give me a short
- give me a real short
- good

Carl
 
FWIW,

We use IN, ON, SET, <rivet in a set number of bursts, depending on the rivet>

In for the rivet. On for the Riveter. Set for the Bucking Bar.

GOOD RIVET,

or ONE SHOT or TWO SHOTS (repeat ON, SET <burst>)

MOVING AFT, in example (repeat)

My kids are a great riveters!

For most of this build I use 35 PSI on my 3X gun.
 
My wife has been my bucking partner and I always emphasized, who bucks is in charge of the command and we used a simple on-it to let the person with the gun know they can shoot. I used good to let her know if rivet done or give me a short one, if little more was needed but that also always required the command of on-it
 
You will find that no matter who is handling the tools after you put the rivet in the hole the only command from the one with the bucking bar is, SHOOT! After all the dialog before the rivet and after the rivet the one with the rivet gun only acts hearing the word SHOOT!
 
On Dad's 6 and later on my 7, we used these:

"Ready" - from shooter, rivet is in, gun is set, go ahead and put the bar on the rivet
"Go" - from bucker, shoot the rivet
"Again" - from bucker, another couple hits
"One hit/two hits" - one or two more hits
"Good" - from bucker, self-explanatory
"Too much" or "bad" - from the bucker, mark the rivet for later removal

There used to be a tap code used on production lines but I find the verbal commands to be of more use with inexperienced helpers.

I found I did a lot more solo riveting on my project than we did on Dad's,
 
commands

Everyone develops their own system. My wife and I work together and rivet pretty quickly. I typically run the rivet gun and she works the bucking bar.

We usually both know the rivet is in the hole, so I just put the gun in place. She puts the bucking bar in place and says ready. I pull the trigger and move to the next rivet while she is performing QC on the shop head. If there is a problem, she will tell me to hit that one again followed by ready. If there is no problem I will hear ready when she has the bar on the next rivet.

As for timing I have an idea of how long of a burst I need to set the rivet. My wife gives me instant feedback; overset or repeated hit that one again helps me adjust.
 
Commands

Agree. The person bucking is in command. You can see the rivet tail. All you need is a "Ready" to get the bar in position then the bucker says, "Go" or whatever.
What's really important is cadence. The driver needs timing. Inalways practiced a few with whomever was helping. We would find a word or name that hit the right cadence for a perfect shop head. Three syllable words like "Aluminum" worked pretty well. Driver would literally say the word after the trigger was pulled then let go. It insures timing is the same every rivet. Short repeat hits also had words.
"Bad" from either person meant circle it with a marker to be drilled after the job was done.
 
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When I need a partner (maybe 5%?) My wife usually shoots and I buck.

Some appropriate callouts;

"Hit it"
"again"
"love tap"
"good"
"circle it"

And the most important one, at the end of a riveting session;

"Thanks babe, you're pretty!"*

*that last one is slightly awkward when it's my brother-in-law on the gun instead of my wife, but I'm all about keeping people motivated :)
 
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