Hi maxwestern,
thanks for those pointers.
The internal piston and bore I have differ slightly in design. There's a hydraulic rod that goes into a hole with a separate hydraulic oil supply to the drops of pneumatic tool oil you regularly feed into the air inlet port of the tool. The instructions that came with the tool are very scant in detail.

I used the riveter after cleaning the bore with brake and parts cleaner on a rag and applying the silicone grease to the piston edge rubber. It seems to operate smoothly at the moment. I would like a very small quantity of hydraulic oil to top it up with though.
I still have to work out the weight which the manual doesn't mention.

Last edited by Mowerfreak; 11/02/21 03:59 AM.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!