Copper Rivets As I Remember Them

[SimonJester753]

I'm 52 years old. In Jr High School metal shop we built a candle holder. We used copper rivets.

As I recall, they had no burr. We were joining 2 pieces of strap iron, not leather, so the burr may not have been needed.

As I recall, the rivet set had 2 holes, one that easily fit over the rivet and allowed you to push the pieces you were joining down on the rivet.

Then there was a smaller hole that only the tip of the rivet fit easily into. We pounded this with a hammer and the outside of the rivet got peeled and bunched up against the metal we were joining.

Then we removed the rivet set and used a ball peen hammer to finish off the rivet. When done, the rivet was domed nicely.

The copper rivets, burrs and sets I recently got seem to work differently. You put the burr on, set it, clip off the excess rivet shaft, then pound it with the domed section of the rivet set and a mallet. It does not seem to get finished as nicely as I remember.

Does anyone remember doing it the way we did it in Jr. High?

[hivemind]

They're different kinds of rivets. The ones you used in school had smaller heads, and the underside of the head wasn't conical the way that copper rivets for leather are. I have some "regular" copper rivets down in my shop. I use them occasionally for armor repairs. I have some with flat heads, and some with domed heads - but the undersides of the heads are all flat.

I can take some pics if that helps.

[SimonJester753]

They're different kinds of rivets. The ones you used in school had smaller heads, and the underside of the head wasn't conical the way that copper rivets for leather are. I have some "regular" copper rivets down in my shop. I use them occasionally for armor repairs. I have some with flat heads, and some with domed heads - but the undersides of the heads are all flat.

I can take some pics if that helps.

Now that you mention it, the heads are different on these leather rivets. What I'm really wondering about is can I use the kind of rivet set we used in Jr. high on the rivets I now have? And if so, where do I find one? I've been googling "copper rivet set" and just coming up with the kind I've got.

[hivemind]

I think it's the same tool. I have the same memories of high school metal shop (we made candle holders and hot dog forks) but I remember using a ball pien hammer to pien the rivet, then using a rivet setter to planish the head smooth. I use the same rivet setter now to set and planish copper rivets in leather, and aluminum, iron and copper rivets in armor.

When you're setting the copper rivets with leather, you should use the tool to ram the burr down tight on the leather, then snip off the excess, but leave maybe 3/16 or a quarter inch behind. Pien that with your ball pien hammer, then use the concave part of the rivet setter to planish it smooth. Don't just put it over the rivet and beat on it, work it around a little bit as you're tapping and it'll smooth out the copper rivet real nice. Takes a little practice, but not much.

My tool has three parts: a convex depression for planishing rivets, a straight hole from the face up into the body that I use to drive down the burrs, and a larger hole that goes across the body that I use to mash the leather down sometimes before I place the burr. It's a hardened steel tool, and I hit it with an 8oz ball pien hammer mostly, not a mallet.

Edited August 1, 2010 by hivemind

[SimonJester753]

Thanks, I was doing it backwards. I was cutting the rivet, then using the domed depression to try to spread it and round it off.