Commercial Rivets?

[KeithF]

Hi All. I need some help with rivets. I have two leather underground miner belts. They are not legal anymore underground and thought i could repurpose them. The have different rivets that are hard to disassemble. Has anyone run into these rivets? And what is an easy way to disassemble them?

Thanks

[fredk]

On the 'flower' type ones try getting needle-nose pliers under each petal, gripping it and bending it upwards. If you can get petals on opposing sides up a bit you can use regular pliers to go across two and squeeze and they'll bend upwards, then inwards towards the centre.

[MikeRock]

Why did they get outlawed?  My Wheat light has that belt. 

God bless

[Matt S]

I'd crack out my crapomatic £20 cordless drill with a carbide burr. Cut out what you can, then punch or tear out the rest. Use your finger tip to prevent the "front" side of the rivet from spinning when you get close to breaking through, or overheating.

For the double cap rivets just put a dent in the cap as central as you can with a centre punch, then treat as above.

[johnv474]

I use side cut pliers--the red handled Osborne one I use for copper rivets--and needle nose pliers to pry up the back of the petals and then pinch/pull the rivet put from the from with the pliers.  That, or cut them in half with side cuts after getting under them with pliers.

 

These are called tubular rivets, in case you search YouTube for removal instructions.

[Handstitched]

Never seen those, but they look to be just as hard to remove as bifurcated  rivets, and a real  PITA  ( a pain in the ***se !! 

Was there a safety issue with them ?  

HS

[BigSiouxSaddlery]

The "splashed" rivets are the easiest of all to remove.  A friend of mine (now deceased) loved to tinker and build stuff for the shop.  He made a press that has a hole just a little larger than the rivet head on the bottom, and a tiny drive punch chucked in the top.  I put my piece on the press with the rivet head over the hole, and step.on the pedal to bring the drive punch down in the center of the "flower" and it pushes it right out.  It took longer to tell about it than it does to knock a rivet out.  For years before I got that gadget, I used an the Heritage anvil tipped on its side, with the rivet over the largest hole, and used a scratch awl in the center, and hit it with a hammer.  The only time I'd have trouble with either method is if the leather around the rivet is rotten, and in that case, there's trouble anyway.

[RockyAussie]

Best I have found is using a set of sanded down knipex nail pullers like in this link. I sand/grind the face down until the V is near flat at the front and that then allows the side edge to push in under the rivet and nip it off. I used these for many years doing shoe repairs where nails and rivets need to be removed every day. A little grinding underneath the cutting edge on one side can help a little to get in under as well. https://www.tradetools.com/product-range/hand-tools/pliers/knipex-twin-end-nipper-pack-200mm-and-280mm-68-series?gclid=Cj0KCQjwrIf3BRD1ARIsAMuugNuYzLzsHmVdER0IkTzp4O6Vdv4NdWd0Be5-QMlswvgd5boDJQETlS0aAk9QEALw_wcB

[toxo]

A drill bit the same diameter as the rivet shank will have them falling apart in seconds. Don't press too hard else they'll turn.

[Handstitched]

Still curious about why they were banned?  

KeithF did mention they were illegal ' underground ' . So I'm guessing, undergound mining, where theres mining , theres  the potential for gas perhaps? sparks from these rivets could  somehow ignite the gas? 

HS

[Retswerb]

On 6/11/2020 at 4:19 PM, RockyAussie said:

Best I have found is using a set of sanded down knipex nail pullers like in this link. I sand/grind the face down until the V is near flat at the front and that then allows the side edge to push in under the rivet and nip it off. I used these for many years doing shoe repairs where nails and rivets need to be removed every day. A little grinding underneath the cutting edge on one side can help a little to get in under as well. https://www.tradetools.com/product-range/hand-tools/pliers/knipex-twin-end-nipper-pack-200mm-and-280mm-68-series?gclid=Cj0KCQjwrIf3BRD1ARIsAMuugNuYzLzsHmVdER0IkTzp4O6Vdv4NdWd0Be5-QMlswvgd5boDJQETlS0aAk9QEALw_wcB

Ooh look, another knipex tool I need! Off topic but their ‘pliers wrench’ really is great if you have need for such tools.