Rivets.

[HeavyHammer]

Two questions.


First off, im trying to remove a rivet from an old pair of nippers to forge into tongs. How exactly do i go about doing this? I haven't got really any power tools to work with so a way to go about this with hand tools would be most desirable.

Second off, everytime I rivet something together, I get as far as having a nub of metal sticking out one side ready to be turned into a head, and after that it always ends up just a bent piece of steel. Which never seems to work.
So any tips or hints would be appreciated.

[Woody]

HeavyHammer:

you can file the head off the rivet and then drive it out with a punch. It will take a while but you can do it. You could also cut it off with a cold chisel but that may be a bit difficult.

To get a good head on a rivet, you need a length of metal equal to the diameter of the rivet stcking out beyond the hole. Then put the head end of the rivet down on the anvil, give the other end one good hard swat with the hammer to swell it in the hole. After that use a ball peen and with light taps form the head of the rivet.

Woody

[HWooldridge]

If you are going to forge them anyway, heat the nippers up to an orange and work them vigorously, which will loosen the rivet. Clamp one side of the nipper in a vist and use a thin chisel to cut apart the halves. You can also sometimes cut the head off against one half.

After you are done forging the nippers to the desired shape, put the halves together and check the fit on the rivet - you may want to make adjustments before they are assembled. I use an OA torch to heat a rivet but you can also put the whole thing in the forge with the factory head uppermost so the rivet doesn't fall out.

If I recall correctly, a round head requires 1-1/2d, so a 1/4" diameter rivet shank would need 3/8" sticking out the other side. This needs to be increased if the hole is sloppy as upsetting will make the material go into the hole and the head will be small. The proper way to do this is to put a rivet set on the anvil to support the factory head and hammer the other side down to form a rough dome shape then finish it off with a matching rivet set on the top side. Done properly, it will look balanced and very clean. Lacking the rivet sets, you can do what Woody said and put the factory rivet side against the anvil - but the head will have a flat spot.

[Ten Hammers]

My nickels worth. Do as Hollis suggested and heat the whole tong joint. Depending on what tools you have you can find the side of the rivet that was set ( opposite the head ) and hammer it down ( head in the pritchel hole ) some. Then you may can punch the rivet through. This perhaps will damage the tong joint but you take the care you need in this. All about learning. WHen time to install new rivet, measure tong joint thickness and add a quarter for both sides ( or add 1/2" to the thickness of the rivet). If you have a drill, drill a 1/2" hole in a piece of 1/4 flat stock ( 1 " wide works fine ). This is the bottom of the set. This is for most sized rivets ( from # 5, 3/16, 1/4, 3/8 ). Assemble cold and put the tong joint over the set stock with the rivet sticking in the hole. Whack it a couple times to set it. Drifting the joint holes to fit the rivet is nice before this. Once you have the rivet so it won't fall out too easily, heat the whole joint. Out the joint over the hole in the set tool and whack it good. Flip and do again. Work the joint quick and hard. Get another heat if necessary. You MAY bend the reins doing this so be careful. Rivet sets for top and bottom are yes, nice. In absence of them, this method makes good stout tong joints. If you have no 1/4 stock for the set tool ( hole in it ) so be it. Use 3/8. Little more sticking out will be needed. After a time, joints get loose. Heat, set the rivet and work joint hot. Rivets last long time. BTW, torch works excellent for me setting rivets too.