(Mileage may vary - if you have a stronger nail and riveting tool you might be able to avoid the two-step.)įrom now on, I'm keeping a few suitable nails along with my rivets. Why not use the just the flat-head nail, rather than go through a two-step process? Those attempts left the rivet incompletely flattened the original 'nail' is designed to flare the hole, which I found is needed before flattening the head further. If need be, put a dab of glue or paint in the center to seal the hole.This is surprisingly easy to do, especially with soft aluminum rivets. There are many types of rivets: blind rivets, solid rivets, tubular rivets, drive rivets, split rivets, shoulder rivets, tinners rivets, mate rivets, and belt. It is the simplest and most reliable rivet found in the Bronze age and can be fitted through a hammer or rivet gun. This rivet is the strongest of all kinds. There's no need to pull until the head pops off, as long as the bulge flattens neatly. Solid Rivet- A solid rivet’s shank is solid and is used for general purposes. As a result, tubular rivets are widely used in industrial settings.

Put the flat-head nail through from either side of the rivet, and use the riveting tool to pull on the nail as if it were the rivet's shaft. These types of rivets must be extremely ductile and made of low-strength metals because they must undergo extensive cold forming.

Use the nail or a punch to pop out the part of the 'nail' that breaks off, remaining in the rivet.

You can push the rivet off its own shaft to check that the nail slides through freely, then put the rivet's 'nail' back into the rivet.

Before riveting, find a flat-head nail with shank of the same diameter, or just slightly smaller, than the 'nail' that is part of the rivet.

Though I don't usually answer my own questions, I came up with a simple solution today while riveting a mailbox: Use a flat-head nail to pull the bulging side of the rivet flat.

Diy pop rivet types and uses