The aircraft production industry has perfected the joining and secure fastening of airframe and other body panels using rivet nut tools. A rivet nut is a threaded fastener that is securely installed on the back side of fixed body panels and other internal components. They are especially handy where the joining covers will need to be removed for future maintenance and possible repairs. This makes rivet nuts tools a must have tool on an assembly line.
Rivets are commonly used in detailed industrial and aircraft production plants because of their ease of use and uniform strength. Sometimes there are plans that call for the same strength and fastening power in an area that requires a removable panel or in a tight area where a regular rivet would present issues or problems, and that is where rivet nut tools become necessary. The rivet sinks a threaded fastener nut on the back side of one of the surfaces that need to be secured, making it possible to fasten the panels with a high strength bolt. This application can be inserted with a hand tool, but commonly it is performed with a power rivet tool, that is driven electrically, or by air. The ease of use and great durability of these rivets have made them very popular in the assembling industries. It’s quite rare to see an assembly without this tool today.
Rivets come in a variety of sizes, shapes and metals for just about every conceivable application, many of the more popular kinds were developed for high stress situations, such as airplane body panels, internal service doors and access areas. Some nuts are designed with a recessed or counter sunk head, and some have a secondary securing feature that allow additional protection making this fastening tool more reliable. One of the ease of use features is that it takes less pressure and applied force to effectively sink one when using a preloaded rivet nut gun, or commercial grade rivet installation tools. There are also many high speed pneumatic brake rivet tools that are used to secure brake pad linings to the metal backings. These applications commonly use stainless steel rivets for their exceptional tension and corrosion resistance.
Huck rivet tools are speciality aircraft tools that use a blind rivet nut system where accessibility is limited and the metal requires high stress fasteners that can be removed for future access for repair or inspection. Rivet nut tools make it possible to provide high quality removable fastening to metal and body panels where standard rivets would require costly removal efforts and possibly damage the parts requiring periodic removal.