Rivets Rivets Rivets...

[HannahJewelleryDesigns]

Hello!
Am I geting something drastically wrong or is there a special technique to rivetting that I havent discovered yet? All my rivets seem to lean over to the side no matter which angle I hit it from. I use a ball pein hamer and a rivet hammer, drill and countersink but they still look drunk! Any ideas?:(|
Thanks!

[ps_bond]

Use remarkably little force, a light hammer, work slowly and gradually shape the rivet working around the edges is what works for me.

A rivet set can help to tidy up the final shape, too; they're easy enough to make.

[Lindyloo]

Is it possible that your rivets are sitting to far out of the surface of your piece, hence bending to the side? You need a remarkably short tip sitting proud of the surface.

[Emerald]

are they a tight fit Hannah

[WitchfordSilver]

:o Sounds like there's a frog on the loose "Rivet rivet"

Could you be making them to long, allowing them to lean over?

[Ominicci]

are they a tight fit Hannah

Am doing trial and error pieces with rivets too and found that this is essential! Both tight in the hole through any metal and/or through any beads if being attached (e.g. spinner rings - if the bead rattles around too much on the bar/tube then the bar/tube will bend inside the bead when tapped).

[HannahJewelleryDesigns]

Hmm, no the last ones I did were a little loose as I broke my drill bit and didnt have a spare! I think I need to experiment with shorter wire as well by the sound of it. Ta very much!
[[]]

[Dennis]

Traditionally rivets are made so that the part projecting is the same length as the diameter of the wire used. A cup burr that just fits is brilliant for rounding the finished end and will disguise a slight bend to a degree. Also bear in mind that it is sometimes safer to use very thin tubing because you only need to insert a scriber and wiggle it to spread the end. Kind regards Dennis.

[HannahJewelleryDesigns]

Hi Dennis,
thanks for the reply, do you know of any good online tutorials for tube rivets? I tried before and only managed to either split the tube or not get much movement in the metal- is that due to the wall thickness of the tube? (or am I just too weak?!)
Sorry for all the questions but lots of my ideas involve rivets but i cant seem to master it with any degree of accuracy or uniformity.
Many thanks for the replies [[]]

[mizgeorge]

Did you anneal the tube really well first Hannah? It makes a big difference :)

[Dennis]

Sorry I missed your question. Yes, anneal well, but you can also make the tube more delicate by holding it in a grooved vise and drilling a little way into the end to make the wall thinner. Another way is to use a very fine saw blade and divide the end into six segments. These will turn over like petals. Kind regards D.

[bruggen]

Hi Hannah, the hole that the rivet goes into should be slightly bigger than the rivet eg 3.2 rivet would go into a 3.3 hole this distance is called the clearance and helps the rivet form in the hole and prevents puckering of the metal, the amount of rivet tail should be 1x the diameter of the rivet shank for a countersunk rivet or 1.5 dia for a normal reaction head (shaped like a whole parmesan cheese) I would anneal the metal to soften it and then allow the hammer to work harden the rivet. All of that was aircraft engineering but when applying general engineering principles the short tail (1-1.5 x the diameter) of the rivet should be lightly struck as squarely as possible on the end of the tail then with a ball pein hammer in a circular motion it will start to deform and then flatten into a nice dome or with further hammering down into the countersink. Hope this helps, I did teach this in the RAF some years ago and I don't know how it transmits in jewellery making but the principles are the same.