Sling Pilots Forum

Where’s a good place to buy rivets? Just from the factory?

For replacing any of the rivets in the build - Yes you really want to get them from the Factory, as they use special German rivets from Gesipa which have a much higher tensile strength than the standard pop rivets you buy around here from Aircraft Spruce and co.

If you're just doing some extra project like using nutplates for something not structural, then you can just buy the CCC rivets from AC Spruce.

Pdxsling wrote: ↑Tue Jan 14, 2020 12:36 am Where’s a good place to buy rivets? Just from the factory?

Hansonrivet.com if you are in america. I am near them (Southern California) and get everything next day.

Use the Avex multigrip aluminum rivets with steel mandrel. They have the same shear/tensile strength as the Gesipa rivets from the kit. The only problem is they have slightly different heads. This is a cosmetic concern of course, so I only use the Gesipa rivets on exposed surfaces. The avex rivets will be necessary at some point in the build, because the kit doesn't come with enough 4mm dome or countersunk rivets. So plan ahead and use the Avex ones on unexposed surfaces ahead of time to save up. I bought 1000 of each, and 1000 3.2mm rivets as well but haven't needed any.

Sweet I’ll check them out thanks!

I still don't understand why TAF doesn't send enough rivets for the project. It is something so cheap but is worth so much more for building customer relations. It's not like buying an IKEA desk and throwing in a few hundred extra nails. This is a major project and TAF should understand that people spend a lot of money purchasing these kits and should think that people's time waiting for needed rivets is worth something. The fact that there is a thread on this shows the lack of customer appreciation. Maybe what they should do is send at least 20% more rivets for each size and have a system in place to reward anyone who sends the extras back. Maybe give them credit towards merchandise. Just a thought for anyone from TAF reading these posts.