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[kno3]

Hi all, I need some advice regarding riveting, because I have some steam engine parts I'd like to fasten with rivets. What tools do you use to form the rivet heads? And where can I buy them?

[derekwarner]

Hullo  kno3  ...firstly

1. what size rivet shank diameter?....
2. are these to be structural or cosmetic?
3. minature modelling rivets come with one preformed head & a parallel rivet shank of X length
4. the required length of the rivets is critical and is simply a function of the total thickness of the plates being joined/riveted + the protruding rivet shank to accurately form the additional rivet head 

In many older riveting applications....boilers & hull frames...a caulking medium was also used between the two surfaces/plates being riveted... "asbestos twine & white lead paste"  come to mind ...however these are now both banned substances .......although some may say they have never been bettered with modern technology & synthetics   

Hand riveting small sizes ... [say 1 or 2 mm diameter size shank] can simply be achieved with an anvil [held in a fixed vice] with a female dimple in the top anvil face to accept the pre formed rivet head, then use a rivet punch....just like a small center punch......but instead of a point...the punch tool also has a female dimple that with repeated gentle tapping will form the opposite end rivet head

I am sure you are aware conventional riveting can sometimes comprise a series or matrix of patterns or rows.......so your anvil may need that same matrix or row sets of female dimples etc .......

Many model steam train builders use traditional riveted construction for their boiler work.........find a club & ask the questions ....Derek

[kno3]

Thanks, I don't know of any such clubs here. I just need a link to a webshop selling the riveting tools for 1 mm copper rivets.

[gondolier88]

Hi Kno3,

Try here; http://www.ekpsupplies.co.uk/ under Model Engineering

Greg

[cliff2903]

or here -- https://vault1.secured-url.com/reeves2000/shop_subcategory.asp?cat_id=12

[kno3]

Thanks. Pardon my ignorance, but is this the part used to form the straight rivet end? If yes, I think i would also need another piece with a hole in it to support the round rivet head?

[boneash]

Hi

Not a hole....

A lump of mild steel with a countersink the same size as your 1mm rivet head in it, you then locate the head of the rivet in the countersink and use the punch on the exposed stem of the rivet, after it has passed through the parts being joined.