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3D STUDIO PRACTICE

METALSMITHING

RIVETING

 

Riveting is a cold joining process whereby two or more materials are mechanically joined together. The process involves placing a wire in a hole drilled through the layers of your chosen materials, and then hammering each end of the wire to form a head that will cause the layers to be joined or locked together. Other cold joining processes are using nuts and bolts, screws, and adhesives.

 

Some design considerations:
  • Be conscious of where the rivets will go.
  • The head of the rivet can be dealt with in a number of different ways.
  • The rivet can be used for decorative purposes and can be visually striking when used in a repetitive fashion.
  • If the rivet wire is made out of a different material from the materials being joined the contrast can be very effective.
  • The size of the rivet head can also be used to good affect.
  • The rivets can be set so that they are invisible.
  • A rivet can be used simply for its visual effect and have no real function.

Preparing the pieces to be riveted together
  • Make up a paper cutout model to help visualise the finished piece.
  • Decide what materials you will use and where.
    1. Copper
    2. Brass
    3. Nickel silver
    4. Acrylic
    5. Aluminium
    6. Titanium
    7. Mesh
    8. A found object?
  • Cut pieces to desired shape and size using the most appropriate method.
    1. Guillotine
    2. Jewellers Saw (saw piercing, see attachment)
    3. Bandsaw
    4. Tin snips
Perform any surface treatment and bending before assembling.
    1. Filing
    2. Polishing
    3. Hammer / Punch texturing
    4. Abrasives / Marking / Scratching
    5. Roller Impression

 

Drilling the Rivet Holes

  • Tape pieces together with masking tape so as to hold your pieces in the position you want them while you drill the holes for the rivets.
  • Centre punch your work where you will be drilling the rivet holes.
    1. Place the point of the centre punch where hole is to be drilled.
    2. Push down on centre punch until it clicks, this will leave a small indentation on your work that the drill bit will locate into.
    3. Centre punching enables you to drill a hole exactly where you want it, and stops the drill bit from wandering.
  • Carefully drill holes using a drillbit that is the same size as or slightly larger than the rivet wire you will be using. Take care that your pieces don’t move during the drilling process as this will cause the holes to be out of alignment, thus making it difficult to place and set the rivets
  • The holes can be drilled in a number of different ways.
    1. Drill all of the holes one after another and then set the rivets.
    2. Drill one hole at a time setting the rivets as you go.
    3. Drilling and setting rivets a number at a time.
    4. The method used depends on the nature of the pieces being assembled.

Preparing the rivet wire:
  • Cutting the rivet wire to the correct length using wire cutters, and prepare it for setting.
  • The rivet wire is cut so that when it is placed in the hole drilled for it, it will protrude a small distance either side of the pieces being riveted together
  • In theory the amount of rivet protruding from either side of the pieces being riveted together is 1/2 the diameter of the rivet wire. That is, if the rivet wire has a diameter of 1.6 mm, it should protrude 0.8 mm from either side. This is very hard to do in practice, so a certain amount of "eye" is involved in cutting it to length.
  • It is easier to cut the rivet wire a little longer than necessary and then file it back, checking it for length as you go.
  • Both end of the wire should be filed flat.

 

 

Setting the rivet:
  • Setting the rivet involves placing the rivet in the hole drilled for it, and by hitting one end at a time with a hammer, the rivet wire will spread to fill and cover the openings of the hole.
  • The rivet wire needs to be soft so as to facilitate easy spreading when struck by the hammer. If the rivet wire is hard to bend and springy you will need to anneal it. (see notes on annealing)
  • With the rivet located in its hole, place one end of the rivet on a steel block.

  • Get down to eye level so you can see that equal amounts of the rivet are protruding from either side of the hole.
  • Using a small hammer, strike the end of the rivet hard enough to cause it to spread slightly and evenly in all directions.
  • Because the other end of the rivet is sitting on a steel block it will also spread somewhat.
  • Strike the head of the rivet maybe 3 or 4 more times then turn it over and do them same from the other side.
  • Work back and forth like this until you have formed a neat head on both ends of the rivet.
  • By hitting straight down on the rivet you will form a head that is flat and has straight sides.
  • By using the other end of the hammer with the round dome on it and hitting around the outside of the rivet, you can cause the head of the rivet to be domed or rounded. This process is called peneing (pronounced peening), and a hammer with a round or domed head on one side of it is called a "ballpene" hammer.

 

  • A rivet hole can be re-drilled with a countersinking tool to form a vee at the either end of the hole. Once the rivet has been set it can then be filed flat against the countersunk hole to make it unnoticeable.

 

Things to watch out for:

  • If you drill your rivet holes to big, the rivets will bend inside the hole when struck by the hammer and won’t set properly.
  • If you cut your rivet to short, you won’t have enough metal, and the head of the rivet won’t spread enough to hold the pieces together.
  • If you cut the head of the rivet to long, it will be difficult to set, as the head of the rivet will tend to just bend over instead of spreading.
  • If you are using acrylic, don’t hammer the rivets to hard as you can cause the acrylic to crack from the spreading action of the rivet.
  • Consider the diameter of your rivet with regards to the thickness of the layers being riveted together. A thin rivet wire (1.00mm — 2.00mm), will have difficulty joining layers that add up to 10.00mm or more as it has difficulty supporting itself when struck by the hammer, and may bend in the middle. The solution may be to use a heavier wire, say 2.00mm.


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