Rivetting

[Lindyloo]

Could anyone give me a guide as to the ideal wall thickness of a tube rivet? In the particular piece I am planning, it is purely for decorative purposes.

[MuranoSilver]

If it's purely for decoration then as thin as you like, maybe 1/2mm?

[mizgeorge]

I generally use 0.5 or 0.6 - but it's hard to find anything else tbh. Once you get into larger tube sizes, anything thinner than 0.7 is really hard to come by.

By choice, I'd like 0.4 or even 0.3 if I could find it!

[Lindyloo]

Thanks guys. As always, the fountains of knowledge.

[glen]

when it comes to riviting thicker is always better. Even using two different metals will mean one will wear away quicker. As a rivit is a very 'busy' moving part it will wear away quickly. The pros of using a rivit is the nice fluid motion it offers. I would say if you dont need to use one try avoid it.

How you finish a rivit off and where you place it is all very important issues of not only how it will look but how easy it is to repair when it does eventually wear away.

[Lindyloo]

Thanks Glen. The rivet in question is only for decoration, not function, so it won't undergo any wear and tear. But I take your point. In fact, I had never thought of it in those terms. So I've stored that in my memory bank for next time.