Can Anyone Recommend a Rivet Nut Tool ?

[like2wheel]

I have one from Napa that works well, but recently was looking for stainless inserts for a corrosion concern, but couldn't find any in small quantities. I eventually decided on well-nuts with stainless screws. The well-nuts have brass threads captured in rubber & they expand when tightened.

 

[crazyal]

I bought one off of eBay. I'm not sure if it was a brand name or just a Chinese noname. Either way it works fine. Looks sort of like a pop rivet gun. It came with nuts and a plastic case. You can buy stainless rivnuts off eBay for pretty cheap. I find the aluminum nuts have weak threads so only use them in applications where the nut will not be seeing a lot of force.

 

[Haoleguy]

I have one from Napa that works well, but recently was looking for stainless inserts for a corrosion concern, but couldn't find any in small quantities. I eventually decided on well-nuts with stainless screws. The well-nuts have brass threads captured in rubber & they expand when tightened.

Thank you like2wheel for the suggestion on well-nuts. There is a large boat parts supplier(Defender) near me that has these with ss nuts. I shall stop by there to see if they have a size that works for securing my 12v dc outlet.

 

[Haoleguy]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. So if I understand this correctly some rivnut tools cannot torque ss rivnuts enough to get a secure attachment?

 

[JimRB]

I have always been happy with the quality of tools I get from McMasterCarr. I got a pop rivet tool last year that works well. No idea what brand you get unless you are already a tool nerd who knows those things. McMaster-Carr

 

[Ford850]

Why can't you use stainless steel sheet metal screws and skip the nuts?

 

[bigtiller]

I've had one for years with no problems from what was jokenly called the Tai-wan Corporation.

 

[Haoleguy]

I have always been happy with the quality of tools I get from McMasterCarr. I got a pop rivet tool last year that works well. No idea what brand you get unless you are already a tool nerd who knows those things. McMaster-Carr

JimRB - I was all set to buy a Gesipa Firefly through McMaster Carr but they would only sell me what they carry in the catalog eventhough Gesipa USA said McMaster Carr had access to it. Well I did buy the Firefly through Excel Air Tool in Cleveland. They were very good to deal with and I just received the tool today. This is a nice ratcheting pistol type that is durable metal and made in Germany. Here's what it looks like.... Item # FireFly, Low Effort Manual Rivet Nut Tool On Gesipa Fasteners USA . When I've had the chance to use it I will report back.....Gary

 

[George2615]

There are better brands of nut insert tools. I've had one for a number of years. I think I got it from Northern tool. Mine is the cheaper rivet type similar to the one sold by HF. In the 30 plus years I've had it I've only used it a handful of times. It works good on sheet metal but not well on fiberglass. The fiberglass nut inserts loosen up after a while. If I was to mount a bracket on my tractor sheet metal I'd use stainless hardware.

3-in-1 Riveter Kit

 

[jaotguy]

when doing nutserts in fiberglass , one should glass in a thin piece of metal to drill through ....

if you only do a couple ( less than 10 or so , just buy a long bolt and 2 nuts ) thread on the 2 nuts far enough to allow you to thread on the nutsert ... push through the drilled hole .... hold the top of the bolt with a socket and use an open end wrench to spin the first nut up against the nutsert to compress it .... back off the first nut and remove the bolt ... you can set stainless inserts this way also.