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1. It was nearly impossible to close the handle of the riveter: even using a vise to close the yellow handles, I had to wrestle for over an hour to get the rivets in. (? this type of rivet not supposed to be used with a hand powered riveter. ? I need to take some steroids.)
2. Worse: when the center of the rivet (mandrel) finally popped off, both rivets were loose - one has about .25 cm of movement into and out of the rivet hole. The other has less play but is still not tight.
Before getting new rivet guns and other tools, I would look at the four issues that OlderBowman mentioned.
Plus, I am certainly no expert riveter, but I do know that you must have everything fit together/seat down tightly and securely before you even get the rivet gun out. In other words, the cleat has to seat to its spot without rocking, the holes in the cleat have to center over the drilled holes, the rivets need to seat in the holes easily and snugly, etc.
Once that is done, the rivet gun essentially clamps the pieces together using the rivet. If you let the gun or the rivet womble around as you pop the rivet, you're usually sunk. It's a lot like putting vice grips on something. You gently put it in place, try not to move anything, and then clamp down smoothly to prevent anything from slipping or jumping.
Best to practice with cheap rivets and light scrap metal if t has killed your confidence.
I used to do a lot of riveting of sheet metal ductwork when I had my "shop job". 30 gauge sheet metal is easy to work with (although it is sharp).
Also, as MBounds says, if the bad rivet is too loose, you're going to have to cut it off. Necessary, slow and tedious work, but drilling is just going to spin the rivet in the hole and do damage. A single-handle plumber's hacksaw is cheap.