FALL 2017

30 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

30 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK Steven Sherman Steven Sherman is Vice President of Industrial Rivet and Fastener Company, the manufacturer of RivetKing branded Permanent Mechanical Fasteners. Steven joined the company, which was founded by his great-grandfather, in 1998 as Production Control Supervisor after attending UC-Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara City College. With his multi-faceted experience that ranges from cold forming through to application engineering, Steven focuses on helping bridge the gap between suppliers and their customers. He regularly hosts seminars and training sessions to broaden the industry’s knowledge and demonstrate the benefits and effective use of riveting technology. RIVETNUTS: PULL AND PRAY GIVES WAY TO A BETTER SOLUTION When you need to add strength to thin materials, using rivetnuts is an excellent solution. That’s because the additional threads of a rivetnut give fasteners a more secure joint. When not installed correctly, however, rivetnuts can lead to increasing costs in tool repairs and production stoppages, as well as warranty claims due to stripped threads or rivetnuts that are not set completely. While traditional installation methods have some drawbacks, recent technology advancements can help torque. Plus, the setting stroke of spin-spin tools is extremely sensitive to the lubrication on the rivetnut itself, and the air pressure supplied to the tool. ¤ Spin-Pull - The key difference in spin-pull tools is that pull force is applied without using any torque to deform the nut. The first trigger spins on the rivetnut, and the second applies a dynamic load and pulls to deform and set it. Spin-pull tools are faster and more reliable than spin-spin technology, making them be best choice for high-volume production environments. your customers ensure they are using rivetnuts properly. Rivetnut Installation Methodologies – What You Need to Know ¤ Spin-Spin - The oldest methodology, spin-spin, uses rotational power (torque) to deform and set the rivetnut. While this technology is generally effective, it does have some shortcomings. To start, it’s slow since the torque applied follows the path of the thread helix and is dependent on supplied air pressure. It also leads to high mandrel wear because of the friction created by the installation TECHNICAL ARTICLE CONTINUED ON PAGE 136