Cleco fasteners are specialty fasteners made for industrial design. These pins are made of metal, and require a great deal of compression pressure to properly fasten. Cleco fasteners are generally used to create bind two sheets of metal together in a secure fashion prior to riveting or welding. Unlike most metal fasteners, Cleco fasteners cannot be installed by hand. Due to the extreme level of pressure these fasteners are meant to withstand, a special tool is required to activate them. With a bit of practice, you'll be able to use Cleco fasteners with ease.
Determine what size fasteners you need. Cleco manufactures their fasteners in multiple size grades for different purposes. You'll need to know the size of your fasteners in order to buy the correct fastening tool.
Purchase the Cleco fastening tool designed for your size fasteners. The fastening tool is a special kind of pliers that you can find in certain hardware stores, auto supply dealers and also on the Internet.
Load the fastener into the head of the tool. Each fastener has a telescoping body that locks into place on the fastening tool. When inserting the fastener into the tool, be sure that it seats properly into the rear jaw of the tool.
Line up the fastener shaft end with the hole in the metal you wish to fasten. Squeeze on the arms of the fastening tool using a good amount of pressure. Each Cleco fastener is spring loaded, and the pressure from the tool activates the interior spring to force the shaft through the hole. As the pressure is released inside the fastener it expands and then contracts. The resulting force creates a temporary rivet which makes an extremely tight bond.
