bigb Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 I am really interested in rivets and I would like to see and hear about the tools and methods some of you use. I am already set up for pop riveting sheet metal but I am wanting to do some heavier riveting with hot rivets and steel. I have fiddled around with this a bit and I have acquired a few steel rivets and some copper, and a few small setting tools. Interested in making tools for bigger stuff. I have watched all the you tubes I could find and did several searches using different phrases, there is not a whole lot out there. On this site I found a little discussion in the stickies under the "joining metals together" thread. If I have missed a discussion on rivets please point me to it. Also has anyone tried using a regular air hammer for setting/forming rivets instead of a special pneumatic riveting hammer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 Most of the questions have been discussed on the site before. A quick search came up with the following: making rivets - Blacksmithing, General Discussion - I Forge Iron How to Rivet ?? - Blacksmithing, General Discussion - I Forge Iron Rivet Header Snap - Problem Solving - I Forge Iron rivet set/ monkey tool - Tools, general discussion - I Forge Iron how to make a rivet? - Finish and Polish - I Forge Iron Two Sided Rivet Header - Member Galleries - I Forge Iron Upsetting. For Real? - Blacksmithing, General Discussion - I Forge ... Upsetting Vise - Vises - I Forge Iron Next get some modeling clay and reverse engineer things. Make a sample rivet you want then figure out the shape of the header you need to achieve that rivet shape. Start with 1-1/2 the diameter of the parent stock for the material needed for the rivet head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigb Posted January 16, 2018 Author Share Posted January 16, 2018 Thanks and good idea with the clay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redsmith Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 Hi Bigb, Like you, rivets intrigue me as much for traditional joinery as for the aesthetic appeal. I just ordered 10' of #2 awg solid copper wire to make my own copper rivets because I found the cost of pre-made rivets was too high. I plan on taking a couple of pieces of angle iron and clamping them together with a very thin shim in between. Then I'll drill down through the top of the mated pair where they meet with a 1/4" bit. When the shim is removed I'll have the perfect clamp to make the rivets. Just clamp the wire between the two halves with enough sticking up and peen that portion to make the initial head. For this you can use either a header tool of your choice (diamond, round, flat, etc.) or a ball peen hammer to create the look you desire. This method of making rivets also works for mild steel rivets. Generally I use the ball peen hammer on steel rivets and a round head set tool on copper but it really depends on the "look you're going for. Since copper is so soft it's generally only used for accent rather than joinery however the steel can be used for both. BTW, non ferrous metals like copper work harden with repeated blows and become more brittle if you work them cold and they can be prone to splitting if worked too much... better if heat is applied a bit. For steel, I think working them hot is the only way to get a firm set and rigid joint whether its rivets or a tenon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigb Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 Thanks Redsmith, I have some #2 solid that I have made some crosses with, I will try making some rivets with it, good idea. I use a miniature acetylene torch to anneal it. I am curious about the angle iron idea though, it seems like a lot of work, why not just drill a piece of 1" or 3/4" solid steel (or whatever length you want the rivet) all the way through then insert the wire, lay the steel on the anvil and form the head, then drift punch it out of the steel block from the bottom? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigb Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 OK getting ready to make monkey tools and rivet blocks. I have some nice 1" round stock for the monkey tools. I watched a couple videos on making rivet blocks, but I noticed the small rivet blocks that you lay on the anvil tend to bounce around and make it hard to work. I have several large, heavy chunks of steel and I was thinking of using one for a rivet block. I could start the depressions with a drill and finish shaping them with a round die. Alternately I could spot heat the area with OA and hammer a ball bearing, or a rivet head into it for shaping. I guess it would be sort of a poor man's swage block? Does this sound like a good plan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeatGuy Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 If you want to make rivets you need an upsetting machine and a pneumatic rivet gun and bucking to set them. I can make a five gallon bucket of 1" rivets in about twenty minutes (Assuming they are all cut to size first). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 7 hours ago, NeatGuy said: If you want to make rivets you need an upsetting machine and a pneumatic rivet gun and bucking to set them That’s not entirely true. If you want to go into rivet production that would be great but for a few here and there are alternatives mentioned all over IFI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 I tend to pick up a pound now and then when I go to Quad-State and anytime I can find them cheap at fleamarket and scrapyard and for things like armour there are always using 16 and 20 penny nails... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigb Posted January 19, 2018 Author Share Posted January 19, 2018 Thomas what do you think about making my backing blocks out of the heavy steel pictured? My other thought was making blocks that fit in the hardie hole. PS went thru Socorro two days after Christmas but was recovering from either food poisoning or stomach flu and would not have made a good visitor. We were disappointed to see Smith's closed up but I suppose Walmart put them out of business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeatGuy Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 "That’s not entirely true. If you want to go into rivet production that would be great but for a few here and there are alternatives mentioned all over IFI. " - It does not just make rivets. I watched some dude make a rivet on youtube in about five heats. I would rather buy them than waste time doing that. I suppose it would be ok if you had one rivet to make but how often do you need just one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 7 hours ago, NeatGuy said: how often do you need just one? Tong making. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigb Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 My questions were not even about making rivets, they were about making tools to set rivets. Please read post #6 and tell me what you think about making rivet blocks for backing up the rivets out of the materials I posted. Neatguy's machinery looks awesome but I am just a hobbyist and there is no way I will ever have that expensive machinery for a few rivets now and then. I have been buying rivets off ebay for the past week and I have several hundred now. Probably enough to last me for years. The only rivets I might try to make are some soft copper ones after Redsmith's suggestion, I have a lot of copper on hand and might make some just for the fun of it. I just want to be able to set a few rivets now and then, by hand. I am working on some tongs right now so that will be my first rivet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel OF Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 Maybe the videos I have posted on YouTube will help you regarding tooling? With a lot of YouTube content 95% is surplus info and all you're really waiting for is that 5% of info you're after. You may find snippets of these videos useful. Making a rivet head hardy tool using bought rivets: https://youtu.be/tT-Lxa1qc-8 Figuring out rivet lengths: https://youtu.be/IIikn0XOG5g The first of 3 videos relating to hot riveting a gate I made: https://youtu.be/e1r8kNiBXlM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigb Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 Thanks Joel, nice videos and to the point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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