Girapow Cordless Rivet Gun Tool, 18V Electric Automatic Brushless Blind Riveter Professional Kit with Battery & Charger 3/16", 5/32", 1/8", 3/32” for Stainless Steel, Steel, Aluminum Rivet

The media could not be loaded. Girapow Rivet Tool95% of my power tools are Makita (36 tools) and 100% are cordless (in total 43 tools) and run on the Makita battery platform (thru the use of battery adapters). So when I started looking for a cordless rivet tool, the first criteria is always whether the tool runs on the Makita platform, cost and of course performance. Makita does make a cordless riveter, as does Milwaukee, but the Makita is more than $1,000 and the Milwaukee is on the 12v platform; while checking in at $325 or more. $1,000 is out of my price range and investing in a singular tool on another battery platform, while spending over $300 (I would need the kit as I don’t have any Milwaukee tools) wasn’t something I was prepared to do. As I researched offerings from Ryobi and Dewalt (two brands that I have battery adapters, thus enabling the use of my Makita batteries) I came across a review of the Girapow on YouTube and cross referenced a review (thank you Roddy Paul Wilmoth) here that mentioned this tools works on the Makita platform. For $150, and being free returns are offered, there was no risk in buying the Girapow and trying it out.I was so impressed, I’ve posted my first ever review video showing the operation of the riveter as well as the difference between using a power tool and the old fashioned hand riveter.The weight of the Girapow will immediately catch your attention. It is top and forward heavy, [so a slight detraction (and why in the video I used a 5ah battery to counter the weight and allow the tool to stand up)] is that the tool cannot stand up on its own or even with a 2ah battery. And while I haven’t found myself fatigued from holding it, if all you did was set rivets all day with this tool- you might experience some fatigue. That aside, I feel like the tool is durable and I was impressed with the tool case (I won’t use it but is a nice touch). Not impressed with the instructions (in fact I can’t figure out what the selector switch accomplishes, seems to automatically work) Most importantly though, does this riveter work?If you’ve ever set any amount of rivets by hand, you know how exhausting and inexact it can be since you need both hands to operate the hand tool. This makes setting rivets a breeze. Insert the right size tip (a quick tip, slightly loosen the nose that houses the jaws when installing a different size tip) for your rivet, place the rivet in your hole and squeeze the trigger. I’ve set close to 600 rivets without any issues and the 5ah battery hasn’t been exhausted during a days work.Another tip- and this is listed in the instructions- don’t let go of the trigger until the rivet is set. If you do, the too will reset it’s cycle without completing the installation of the rivet.Without using the Makita or Milwaukee offerings, it’s impossible to say this tool is inferior in anyway. Some may nit pick that there isn’t a cup to catch the mandrels, that’s not a huge issue for me. What I can say is this tool performed this far exactly as I expect and need it to. It also increases my production time 10 fold, the quality of my rivets goes up exponentially and it was 40% of the cost of the Milwaukee, and is just over 10% of the cost of Makita. Even if you aren’t on the Makita platform, you get a 2ah battery and charge for less than $150. In my opinion, the performance, combined with the cost makes this tool a no brainer for anyone who sets rivets on a recurring basis.

With name brand units costing WAY more and already a bunch of good reviews, I decided to give this thing a try. Until I purchased this unit I was just doing rivets with a manual tool. I've done over 200 rivets at the time of this review and with exception of a few while I was playing with settings on the tool, every rivet has been driven perfectly. It's way more consistent and a lot easier on my hands...not to mention that since you can do it with one hand, your other hand it free to hold parts together. I'm very pleased so far and would highly recommend this tool.

I have now used this on a few dozen aluminum rivets. It seems to work fine, but have not yet used it on stainless steel rivets. It seems to work fine and is a lot easier, faster, and does a better job than the hand rivet gun I had been using. I particularly like the fact that it has a long narrow nose and can get in tight places.

On the basis this is vastly cheaper than units costing 4 figures.Instructions - almost worthless - it's all standard safety warnings. Only the last page actually tells you what's going on - and how to adjust the pull.Unlike other units the mandrel/nail does not pull through the unit and fall out the back. It ejects out the nose. So the unit cycles - once inwards to pull the nail. Then outwards to eject it. This second cycle is the bit that slows the machine. You can help extraction by pointing the nose downwards to let gravity help the spent nail drop out. Drops out almost every time if you do that. I just pointed it downwards into a waste can so I didn't end up with nails all over the shop floor.If the nail burrs more than normal and doesn't drop out - you might have a fight on your hands. Disassembly is not obvious - even from the diagram and the supplied "tool" does not cover all the wrench sizes you will need.Manual extraction of the nail is the biggest issue with this unit causing the job to go at "hobby" speed rather than "production" speed.So this all sounds negative. It's more about learning to use the tool.The plus:If you have small hundreds of rivets to pull - this is a great labor saver. It pulls consistently and reliably every time. I got consistent and reliable set rivets.Note - tested with proud and flush Cherry stainless rivets with stainless mandrels. - meaning yes - this will work if you are home building an aircraft and riveting a small number of rivets per session.Warning - do NOT pull a rivet experimentally without metal. You will end up stripping it down to get the waste nail out...... (Don't ask)In summary - for small jobs, for the money. It's fine!Yes - that battery pack is like a Makita 18v pack. If you were thinking of using other Makita batteries you have.

This tool right here is a most if you are doing rivets. It is super easy to use and works great. We were building a house and using it for the gutters and outside trim work and it worked great. The company that backs it up is amazing too. We had an issue with the charger that came with it but the company replaced it quickly and were super friendly the entire time. Edith the representative that help me even checked back after I received the new charger to make sure it was working fine. They definitely won me over with the customer service they provided.

i like the tool very much, i got it yesterday and used it today, the first time i did 4 rivets the next one the stem got stuck - then i did 24 more rivets 3 got stuck in between. all in all the tool is great and simple to use.