Most rivets used in DIY are the latter type. They're inserted using a riveter. Access is only needed to one side of the hole.
==Blind rivets== Riveters
plier type, most common, squeeze the handles
lazy tongue, push/pull action
Material
Most rivets are aluminium
Steel rivets are also available, but (why_not_used_much)
Size
various widths
asstd lengths, mainly standard and long
assortment packs are popular
Head types
lost head - the head comes away
the other one, leaves no hole
Removal:
drill the rivet
or cut the head off with flush cutting wirecutters
==Solid rivets== Solid rivets are inserted into the hole and hammered flat, with the workpiece resting on an anvil or similar. This is a much slower process than blind riveting, and requires access to both sides of the hole. The method has been in use for many centuries. These rivets are usually copper or steel.
The final appearance is a flat disc or a domed head.
These rivets can be used cold, using copper, aluminium or steel, or heated, using steel, as was usual in heavy-duty work such as traditional ship-building. I am not sure how much it is still used. Tim's point is a good one about countersinking. Done this way it is possible to finish the surface, for example using a brushed or polished finish, so the countersunk head is invisible. Did you make a bottle opener Tim? It was a standard piece when it was still called metalwork in schools. Not PC perhaps now? Perhaps a bit of info could be added about how countersinking is done?
It's worth mentioning that a special tool is best for forming the domed head with small rivets - think it's called a 'set'. Also has a hole in it the size of the rivet to assist in getting both parts of the work mating properly - if this is not done it effects the strength of the joint, as well as looking unsightly.
OK, after feedback here's version 2 for comment. Taught me a thing or
The main types of '''Rivet''':
Solid metal rivet
blind hollow rivet
bifurcate rivet
eyelet
=3D=3DBlind rivets=3D=3D Most rivets used for DIY are
formatting link
blind rivets]. These rivets are set with a riveter. Access is only needed to one side of the hole.
Riveter types
plier type, most common, squeeze the handles
lazy tongue, push/pull action
Material
Most rivets are aluminium
Steel rivets are also available, but (why_not_used_much)
Size
various widths
asstd lengths, mainly standard and long
assortment packs are popular
Head types
lost head - the head comes away
the other one, leaves no hole
Removal:
drill the rivet
or cut the head off with flush cutting wirecutters
=3D=3DSolid rivets=3D=3D Solid rivets are inserted into the hole and hammered flat, with the workpiece resting on an anvil or similar. This is a much slower process than blind riveting, and requires access to both sides of the hole. The method has been in use for many centuries.
These rivets are usually copper, steel or aluminium. Steel rivets are often worked hot.
The final appearance is a flat disc, a domed head or countersunk. Its possible to produce a flush finish in thick sheet with a countersunk rivet.
A tool is best used for forming the domed head with small rivets - think it's called a 'set'. Also has a hole in it the size of the rivet to assist in getting both parts of the work mating properly - if this is not done it affects the strength of the joint, as well as looking unsightly.
=3D=3DBifurcate rivets=3D=3D These split leg rivets are used to fix D rings to board, for leather goods etc.
After insertion the legs are spread with a screwdriver, and the whole turned over and hammered to flatten the legs.
=3D=3DEyelets=3D=3D Eyelets are a type of rivet consisting of 2 parts, one of which splays out over the other in use. They're widely used with leather goods, clothing, tarpaulins, sails, card & so on. They're set with small rivetting pliers.
Riveters:
Some riveting pliers also double as a hole punch, and have a wheel with various sizes of hole punch and rivet setter.
more basic ones are just 2 little metal blocks attached to a tweezer- like frame to keep them aligned. These tools are operated with large pliers or a hammer.
Steel rivets are used extensively in the aerospace industry and are usually mono monometal and coated with cadmium plate. Mono metal so as not to confuse the compass and the coationg to prevent difering metal corrosion.
Rivets are sized in metric values, but are the old imperial diameters due, I think, to the very strong opposition to metric by the USA. So a 2.4 mm is really 3/32" nds, a 3.2 mm is a 1/8 th and so on up to quarter inch (these are usually pulled by a pneumatic gun, as the rivet goes with a big bang when the stem snaps.) The stems come in two styles. The first is a break head where the rivet retains the bulbous end that swells the tail and the other type is known as break head, where the bulbous bit snaps off and has to be removed to prvent vobration damage to an enclosed area.
Is that what I have just described above?
There are a further 2 types of steel and aluminium rivet that are set from just one side. The first is called a Chobert rivet and is set with a re usable mandrel being pulled through it and a solid pin can be hammered into it, to retain the swolen shape. The second type is called an Avdel rivet, which like the pop rivet comes its own mandrel. These two types, the average DIY'er will not come into contact with because of the specialised setting tools required.
If you do this, make one side a normal depth countersink and then other side between a half to three quarters deep.
The ones that I have come across and used were in pairs for each diameter, as you say, one had a hole to tighten the gap between the 2 intems to be rivetted and the other, if you got the total rivet length right would make the hammered side a nice round dome
Talking about domes, the heads of rivets come in 3 shapes.
First is a snap head which is almost a half ball and the second one has a mushroom shaped head. The countersink rivets come in all sorts of angles from 60 to 120 degree angles and can have a crown on that can be made flat after the rivet has been set.
I've got one somewhere (bought years ago for a special job) which is a one-piece tool. One end, roughly oval shaped, has two holes side by side. One is a deep hole to go over the rivet shank for 'drawing up' and the other shallow domed hole is for the actual setting of the rivet. It's only useful over a narrow range of rivet sizes limited by the diameter of the deeper hole.
I'm young enough that it had shifted its name several times and ended up as "design and technology: resistant materials technology" and had to have a syllabus structure largely common with other "D&T" things like cooking ("edible materials technology"?) that my school didn't do.
Still had the same old teachers, though, teaching us to use the lathes and milling machine, and we did do both domed and countersunk rivets.
There's also a type that I have used in the past that have a domed head and a shank with a grooved twist (like externally rifled solid rivet) that are simply hammered into an accurately sized hole through the two pieces of metal. The end is not hammered over.
Our school did Woodwork, Metalwork and EWTP (Engineering Workshop Theory and Practice) as separate subjects - in EWTP we designed, drew and made things like toolmaker's clamps and in my case, an adjustable stand for a dial test indicator that could be used on a surface plate or with an extension section bolted on, on my father's lathe.
Yes, the last time I remember seeing them must have been in 1975 and I can't for the life of me remember what they were callled. Instinct says that they were not described as a rivet, but it's been a long time.
Ah, that looks familiar. Glad you remembered, it was in the early eighties that I used them - around the smokebox of a 5" gauge Simplex loco that I was building with my father. It's a pity we never finished it - we got it running on compressed air, but didn't trust our silver soldering skills and couldn't afford to buy a ready-made boiler. I did suggest that now he's retired he should buy a boiler and get it finished for my kids, as we've got a handy 2200 foot track (that I helped build) less than half a mile away from here.
I would urge you to get the original boiler up and running. G Dad will impress his g children all that much more. If you fear the boiler may explode, get some good quality hard plastic between the engine and observers, or take them back quite some way and just protect the engineer.
2200 feet of track? What is the first 2 of your postcode? I have never heard of that much track being available.
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