Pneumatic squeezer. What's best to buy?

[ron sterba]

Building a 9A. and was wondering if somebody could steer me in the right direction on what did to buy. Name model. I have a hand squeezer by cleaveland but those close calls make it a tuff job not to mention drilling out rivets. Or if somebody has one forsale and it did a great job i might be interested in buying itfrom you. Thanks, Ron in Oregon

[rleffler]

Originally Posted by ron sterba

Building a 9A. and was wondering if somebody could steer me in the right direction on what did to buy. Name model. I have a hand squeezer by cleaveland but those close calls make it a tuff job not to mention drilling out rivets. Or if somebody has one forsale and it did a great job i might be interested in buying itfrom you. Thanks, Ron in Oregon

I can tell you that you can get no better service than buying from Avery Tools.

When I first got my squeezer, I ran into some of the typical issues squeexing longer rivets. Bob spent time with me on the phone teaching me how to appropriately use the tool.

A few days before SnF, I dropped the squeezer on the garage floor and it locked up and quit working. Although Avery was busy getting ready to head to SnF, I overnighted the tool to them. The day before the left for SnF, Bob rebuilt the tool and sent it back to me. He takes some vacation after the trade shows and knew that it would be a month before he could perform the repair. Since I was actively building, he didn't want to slow me down. If the turn around time wasn't enough, he didn't charge me for the repair when it was clearly my fault for the damage.

This is why I recommend Avery for many tool choices. Cleaveland has great support too. Bob Avery's service and knowledge on pnuematic squeezers is second to none. It looks like they may still have some specials on squeezers on their web site. Several are rebuilt units.

Call them and ask them which squeezer is better and ask what kind of deal they can give you.

[Rick S.]

I like Avery for lots of stuff and nothing against them but I bought my squeezer from Kim Goldin and it has performed flawlessly. He makes the dies himself and they are very high quality. He is now making them on super precise CNC equipment. The die set they sell has all the ones you will need to complete your RV except the -3 universal rivet set.

http://www.rivettools.com/

[larrynew]

Originally Posted by ron sterba

steer me in the right direction on what to buy. Name model.

Ron,

The Chicago Pneumatic CP-214 Pneumatic Squeezer or a clone of the same is the most common that folks use.

Most of the major tool houses sell them and you can find them on auction sites. I bought mine from another builder.

[David_Nelson]

I don't know if Fred Kunkel of Clear Air is still around or not, but you might try him at:

Email: contact@clearairtools.com
Phone: 888-777-1650/818-775-1650

[Skybolt Al]

I bought my rebuilt squeezer from Avery. It looks and works just like new. Came with a 3" yoke and adjustable set. Saved about $125 over new. I think they might have a few left.

[rv9aviator]

Hi Ron, I sent you a PM

[ron sterba]

Thanks guys. I had the pleasure of speaking with BOB over at Avery and you are right! Personable and a builders friend indeed! I think I'am going to have to buy a pneumatic and it sounds like the likes of the CP 214. I just got off ebay and it looks like some of the yokes don't have hole for the dies. Do I have to buy different yokes or just different fingers (squeezers fingers)? All try clearair tools also & rivettools.com. Ok guys Iam on my journey. Thanks guys Ron in Oregon

[rleffler]

Originally Posted by ron sterba

I just got off ebay and it looks like some of the yokes don't have hole for the dies. Do I have to buy different yokes or just different fingers (squeezers fingers)?

Those are no hole yokes, which doesn't have a hole on the opposite side. These are used to get into tight places for an AN426 rivet where a standard yoke and die won't fit.

I have a 4" no hole, a 3" standard, and a longeron. Between these three yokes, I've been able to do 99% of the rivets on my RV-10.

bob

[Snowflake]

I bought my CP214 from Avery in a weak moment when I logged into their site one day and it was on sale. But i'm really glad I did.

I bought more yokes from Fred at Clear Air Tools, he provided exceptional service in selecting the right ones for my project. If I had heard of Clear Air first, I might have bought the squeezer there too.

Both are great places to buy, in my opinion.