Sling Pilots Forum

Yeah, I'm considering the Milwaukee instead. It's certainly cheaper. I'm hesitant because, first, the Milwaukee is heavier. With a small battery it weighs in at about 4.5 lb while the XT2 weighs 2.8 lb. The hose probably adds some to the XT2 but for a tool that's going to be used 100,000 times during the build, weight reduction is important to me.

Second, the Milwaukee seems to cycle slower. In practice, I dunno how important that is, though.

Third, from looking at demonstration videos, it doesn't seem like the Milwaukee reliably ejects the mandrel but leaves it in the nose or drops it out the front. This seems like a major pain.

The XT2 won’t do everything you need. The smaller rivets need the XT1, the XT2 will mar the rivet heads. The XT2 is a pleasure to use, but the Milwaukee will be your one stop shop for everything.

I'm nearly done with my slow build wings with the Milwaukee and it's more than adequate. If you've got a compressor setup already and money to burn then yeah an XT2 is probably great but it's by no means a requirement. I think people who haven't started building yet overestimate how much time you actually spend pulling rivets. It's such a small percentage of the work compared to the deburring and cleaning and assembly and disassembly and realignment and assembly and nope still doesn't fit right take it apart again. It can get heavy and it does jam on the 3.2mm rivets if you're not careful, but once you learn to use it that's less of a problem and quick to clear. It's also quiet which depending on your build location can be a big plus.

Oh cool - it's not just me where the rivets jam...

In watching the hour long tour on YT of the Sling factory in SA one of the guys giving the tour said there as a little north of 22,000 rivets. That seems awfully high to me. But yes - the Milwaukee is more than adequate to build one of these planes. If you're doing more than one maybe the XT1/2 but just depends upon the mission I guess.

Yeah the XT2 not handling the small rivets is annoying. Does anyone know how many of each size rivet the kit comprises?

With the XT2 it has all the rivet heads needed for the build. I haven't needed to order anything extra. Just don't loose them!

ibgarrett wrote: ↑Mon Apr 17, 2023 10:50 am Oh cool - it's not just me where the rivets jam...

In watching the hour long tour on YT of the Sling factory in SA one of the guys giving the tour said there as a little north of 22,000 rivets. That seems awfully high to me. But yes - the Milwaukee is more than adequate to build one of these planes. If you're doing more than one maybe the XT1/2 but just depends upon the mission I guess.

I get the jams too, but only on the smaller rivets. The mandrels of the larger rivets don't get stuck.
To minimize jams when using the small rivets, after pulling, I hold the gun so that the nose is almost vertical and then pop the mandrel with a finger.
You can hear it hit the container. I've also shot some spray silicone in the pathway and that has also helped.
To clear the jams I have a piece of piano wire that I run through the passage. Remove the nose piece and then push the wire all of the way through. Once it shows up at the rear of the gun, grab it with pliers and pull it out. Occasionally, they'll be jammed in pretty tight and it's disassembly time.

Sounds like we found similar solutions for the problem.

The fun part is I’m very close to not having any rivets left to pull…

Well, I got a pro-set, but nowhere does it state what the thread is on the air attachment. Looks like it might be a 1/8" NPT but it's aluminum so I don't really want to try threading an NPT thread in there if it turns out it's not... Can anyone say for sure?

Has anyone looked at the Dewalt cordless 3/16 rivet tool? I already have Dewalt so it would save me some money to add another Dewalt tool to my collection rather than starting a collection of Milwaukee tools and batteries...

FYI, I just ordered a (new in box) Stanley XT2 from Freeman Liquidators. They had 2 available( now 1) if anyone is interested. (https://freemanliquidators.com/products ... rivet-tool)