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Tool Solid Rivets
- Thread starter djberta
- Start date
Tool
Have had a little bit. What are you making? If you are holding moving pieces, the biggest thing is to get the shank to fill the hole(s) before fully forming the head. So the shank generally has to swell. If the rivet is too long, the shank often bends over and the to be formed head will look like sh@#t. A good backing bar/ block is important, nice if it has a dimple that is head shaped, the bigger, the better, if it will fit in the area/space. Yes, a hammer can and has been used by many!
If you are making a liquid holding tank, put sealant/gasket between the 2 pieces, then rivet together (how do I know, $%&@). A very light champher on the edges of the hole helps.
Much you may already know.
If you are making a liquid holding tank, put sealant/gasket between the 2 pieces, then rivet together (how do I know, $%&@). A very light champher on the edges of the hole helps.
Much you may already know.
I have the stuff, how big of a rivet are you looking to use ?
My gun is capable of up to 3/16 dia, I also have a selection of solid rivets depending on how many you need
Aircraft spruce sells them, they are inexpensive, the length does matter, but you can trim to suit
There is a bit of a trick to it, and depending on the thickness of material you are using you can actually warp it, solid rivets have a pretty substantial clamping force
My gun is capable of up to 3/16 dia, I also have a selection of solid rivets depending on how many you need
Aircraft spruce sells them, they are inexpensive, the length does matter, but you can trim to suit
There is a bit of a trick to it, and depending on the thickness of material you are using you can actually warp it, solid rivets have a pretty substantial clamping force
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Aluminum. I figure the soft ones, I saw there are hardened ones as well. Like to start with the easy ones and move up if needed. I am not building an airplane, can't believe people actually do all that work, but it is a great hobby from some of the videos I have watched. Eventually I would like to make some things for my shop and car. At this point nothing more then holding things together with the look of round rivets.
Sorry I edited my post
Yes they sell all sorts of different types of rivets, for show just the cheapest ones (soft Iirc) would be all you need
I have an upcoming order with aircraft spruce, if I don't have the rivets you want you can just toss it in with my order, the shipping is pretty expensive, especially for like 1 lb or rivets
Dabbler
ersatz engineer
I've put in hundreds of soft steel rivets in reproduction armour (years ago). You can do it by hand, and get a good result - if you have an anvil, a decent ball pien hammer (or ball peen hammer if you like!)...
You can improve the result with a rivet set, and hardened punch with the dome shape. these are hard to use, however, and require very hard strikes. If you do use a set, just make sure your set rivet is very tight, and all will be good.
If you go the pneumatic approach, you will get great results.
Both ways require you to get a good feel as to cutting the rivet to the correct length before piening it.
You can improve the result with a rivet set, and hardened punch with the dome shape. these are hard to use, however, and require very hard strikes. If you do use a set, just make sure your set rivet is very tight, and all will be good.
If you go the pneumatic approach, you will get great results.
Both ways require you to get a good feel as to cutting the rivet to the correct length before piening it.
I've used copper rivetts, works well and fairly easy. They need to be the right length and need snaps to hold one side and form the head on the other (just pieces of hardened steel with a depression in them
Interesting. I have wished before to find a source of soft iron rivets, no luck. They are about like binding wire. I do have some steel rivets , but they so much stiffer than soft iron I didn't bother trying them. All cold worked? Even thought making my own (temporary insanity defence)
Interesting. I have wished before to find a source of soft iron rivets, no luck. They are about like binding wire. I do have some steel rivets , but they so much stiffer than soft iron I didn't bother trying them. All cold worked? Even thought making my own (temporary insanity defence)
Dabbler
ersatz engineer
I agree on the insanity!
I have no idea where I got them. I think I still have a box left... somewhere... They are soft steel, but they are pretty easy to get a good shape with. I think I bought them at the local hardware store (before they all went extinct).
Doggggboy
Ultra Member
Back in your larping days?
The conversation with using the rivets started with my dad asking if I could 3dprint something that looks that way. I said sure then we got on to using real rivets and its grown to this. So I'm looking at getting the right size. I have a set of cleko's from years ago. Like 30 years ago when the fairs used to sell stuff like that. I will need to check the size and then I think understand how to get the correct length. I will keep working at it. I never thought about doing them by hand. I do know you could just always figured driving them with air was easier.
Length is easy, the thickness of the pieces plus 1.5x the diameter of the rivet. Not really that critical for just aesthetics, and you can trim as needed
depending on what you plan to rivet doing it by hand might be a 2 person operation, even on something small, 1 person to hold the bucking bar/piece, and the other to hold & drive the set. Sounds like a pain to me, a pneumatic gun really makes it a cinch, downside is a gun is just shy of 300$.
i have the stuff if you want to come over and give it a try, i think the largest rivets i have are 1/8
depending on what you plan to rivet doing it by hand might be a 2 person operation, even on something small, 1 person to hold the bucking bar/piece, and the other to hold & drive the set. Sounds like a pain to me, a pneumatic gun really makes it a cinch, downside is a gun is just shy of 300$.
i have the stuff if you want to come over and give it a try, i think the largest rivets i have are 1/8
they are color coded, silver is 3/32, copper is 1/8, black is 5/32, brass is 3/16
i have cleco's here
Edit; I just took a look, the biggest rivets i have here are 5/32, so you can have an idea what they look like
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We used to change broken/dull knives on swather and combine sickles w/ rivets on the farm all the time. While it's been a long time, I'm guessing the rivets were around 1/4" in diameter and were likely soft iron. They peened over nicely with a hammer & solid block of steel for a backer.
