Trouble Peening Copper Rivets

[Black Dogg]

I second Chief's method of riveting; simple and does the job very well

The tool that aconstruction makes is well worth buying. You can make your own rivets in no time and save some money, too. It's solid and should last forever!

[Sanch]

the tool aconstruction posted looks like a chunk of steel with holes drilled at different depths and diameters? tool steel maybe? hmm? annealed coppe wirer (copper wire heated red hot then water quenched to soften) only what about the washers? you'd still need to source them...sounds like enough trouble to just stay with speedy rivets.....

[Chief31794]

Thank you for the help and pointers! If I can't get it right now, there is no hope for me

Chief- what kind of cutter are you using? I just purchased a 9" Klein side cutter and hope that is going to do the trick. I didn't think to file the rivet, so thanks for that.

Hi Dwight - I do have the same tool specifically for setting copper rivets. Perhaps the steel plate will be helpful. Are these easy to come by?

Thanks Andrew & Chuck - I will definitely look into Douglas tools.

Sorry,

I missed this some time back, the cutter I use is a 16" nipper, like the one you see in the picture.

Chief

[Colt W Knight]

Sorry,

I missed this some time back, the cutter I use is a 16" nipper, like the one you see in the picture.

Chief

I also use this tool to cut copper rivets. I use a set made by Channellock, and if I hold the nippers flush, it cuts the rivet the right amount.

For me, the biggest issue is a good solid striking surface, It needs to be firm without any wiggle room.

[kidbeey]

I recently domed some copper rivets and ended up with a radial split on one edge of the dome. What did I do wrong?

Also I have a Boker rivet setter. When using the hole that pushes the washer down to the leather it does not seat the washer tightly to the leather, and in fact, the washer springs back up. Could I be using a tool with a hole that is slightly too large?

[TwinOaks]

For me, the biggest issue is a good solid striking surface, It needs to be firm without any wiggle room.

THIS ^^^^^^^ . Even the best tools on the planet will yield unsatisfactory results if they don't have a solid surface to work against. Your pounding surface needs to have a lot of mass. I used to set rivets on my granite slab (sink cut out), but noticed an immediate difference when I swapped over to a bench vise/anvil mounted on the corner of a table. The sound went from " Claack! " to " thunk". With more mass UNDER the rivet, all the force of peening went INTO the rivet instead of trying to bounce the granite around.

If you can, pick up a 15lb anvil (or larger). Harbor freight sells a few sizes relatively cheaply. If you can't do that, try a scrap yard, or even a railroad yard, and see if you can get a scrap of rail. Then, set it in a small bucket of concrete, and you'll have a REALLY solid work surface.

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

Kidbeey, the washer popping off is caused by one of two problems; either you're using the wrong size washer (burr) for the rivet, or you're using the wrong size setter. When you set the burr on the post, before you pound it down, it should just set up on the tapered part and not slide all the way down the post of the rivet. If it slides down on it's own, the burr is too big. The hole in the setter should not be any larger than to just allow it to slip onto the rivet post. Any larger, and you'll get a sloppy job of riveting. On the splitting issue, I assume when you say "doming" you're referring to peening over the post. The splitting would be caused by not cutting off enough post before peening. I don't know what to tell you as far as how much to leave; an eighth of an inch would be too much. Cut too close and you won't have enough to peen over. The burr has to fit down tight before you cut off the excess. I have a little nipper that I use that leaves just enough when I put the jaws down on the burr. Practice and experience will teach you how much to leave. "Doming" usually refers to what we do to the head side of the rivet to give it an attractive appearance. There are varying opinions on whether this is a good thing to do, or not.

[oltoot]

My weapon of choice is a nail nipper appropriated from my horsehoeing tools

[Kate]

Thy this tool for making you own copper rivets from copper wire. I'm a machinist by day and I moonlight making these rivet tools. You can find them at heromount.com or on etsy or ebay. Thanks.

[paramedic192]

BRASS RIVET & BURRS SETTING VERY HARD

Good morning,

I have used copper rivet and burrs without difficulty in the past, but the copper didn't look right with the brass hardware on my current project so I picked up a pack of #12 brass.  Has anyone else used the brass and found it extremely difficult to set the burr?  I found myself having to pound quite hard and bending the rivet both on the bottom and top.  I even tried lubricating the rivet with a little neatstoot oil without any improvement.  Has anyone else had this difficulty and if so, any recommended solutions? For this project I just switched to a standard brass quick rivet because the rivets are purely decorative. 

 

Thanks,

 

Kyle