Help with rivets please

Hello everyone, I am Raptor and I am new to the sport of kayak fishing.  I have been fishing since I was 6 and paddling since I was 8, but now that I'm in my 30's I have finally decided to officially combine the two! 
Anyways, I purchased a used Scupper Pro TW and a Ride last September and have slowly been collecting gear and outfitting them over the past few months.  They are both great kayaks and have worked well to catch some bass in the delta and trout up in some Sierra lakes.  I will be hopefully be venturing out on the bay and ocean soon.  I would like to thank all the members here for contributing such valuable information that has already helped me enormously. 

Now that you have my (perhaps unnecessary) back story, I am currently attempting to install some flush mount rod holders, and some pad eyes using pop rivets.  Since this is my first time using pop rivets, I decided to practice first on some scrap plastic and a bucket.  The problem I am experiencing is that the rivet shears with about a half inch of shaft still protruding from the top of the rivet.  I thought maybe it was the rivet gun, so I am now on my second gun from home cheap-blo and still having the same thing happen.  These are the crack of dawn, aluminum rivets purchased from kayak fishing supplies.  Can anyone with experience using pop rivets please help me?  Thank you in advance.

I usually just take cutters and knock them as low as possible and then one or two passes with a file.

The problem could be you are trying to pop the rivet in one go.  Generally it is better to squeeze it and when a little slack is created from the rivet collar compressing release the handle and push back down to take up the slack.  Repeat a little at a time until it naturally breaks. 

Wow, thanks for the quick replies!
My technique has been squeeze and release to take up the slack and repeat until it shears, but it only seems to shear with that 1/2" still left behind.  I guess I will have to take Brian G's advice and just cut and file?  I should add that upon inspecting the back, it seems the post is pulling way past the ring it normally sits in.

yep....one or two pumps does then finish it off with a file. man that sounds bad.

Haha!  That does sound bad.

This is what is happening   

Here is the back

probably no help...but I have had that problem with the cheapo riveter's, then got a better one (Arrow Fastener RHT300) and as long as I size the nipple right it works awesome with nearly every rivet I have used, SS, AL, plastic, steel.

the other consideration is a batch of (or generally) junk rivets...  sometimes that happens.  Supply chains often have many producers for the same product....one bad apple?

good luck
jim

Do you have the right size adapter on the rivet gun.   The pin should fit pretty close to snug.  If you have the wrong size in and it is sloppy then it will suck the collar like it is doing.  There should be a few interchangeable heads that came with the rivet gun.

On a related issue, make sure you keep the scrap pieces that you cut out as well as the little shavings.  You'll want those for when you want to patch repair holes, cracks, ooops, etc. 

Something is very wrong if that much is sticking out.  I got with Jim that its either bad tool or bad rivets.

That is actually the exact rivet tool I am using!  I returned a cheaper one and got that one, thinking that might be the problem. 
As far as I can tell, I am using the correct adapter on the gun for these 3/16" rivets.  I will double check that. 

 

  It's just these issues that keep me using SS hardware.   As long as I can reach the intended location inside the hull, for whatever it is I'm adding, I'll use SS cap screws and nuts.
 

I know what you mean and, trust me, I am using SS hardware wherever possible.  However, these few items I am installing require blind hardware so I figured rivets would be easy :/

I think I was using the wrong adapter!  Funny, because on the old gun, there was only one that fit. This one has a smaller adapter that better fits these rivets. Oh man, I knew it had to be user error. After all, I am a little tooltarded.

tooltarded Good user name 

Hey Raptor...   Cool name !   

     I think it may be the Rivet design.     Rivets have a range of thickness they will work to clamp parts together.   Looking at the bottom view in your photo .   It  looks  like you are not clamping anything,  just testing the rivet...  Is that correct ?    Try adding  some thickness to the underside . 

   Ask Crack of Don what  "Grip Range " those are supposed to work in.   Some people use rivets to attach thick items like  the Scotty rod holders..  over a half inch of " grip" is required for those to hold properly.