[AT] Rivet how-to

[H. L. Staples]

Larry I was once told that cutter bar rivets should not be heated because
you don't want them to swell in the hole, you just want to form a second
head.  These rivets are pretty soft.

While I was in high school (about the same time fire was discovered as a
cooking aid.)  A four story steel frame building was being erected across
the street. The members were being joined with hot rivets.  An artist on the
ground was operating the forge and throwing the hot rivets up to the riveter
who cought them in a funnel like device. They were then inserted and set
with an air hammer. Never did see a missed pitch or catch. 

H. L. 


On 2/3/2006 12:46:51 PM, Larry D. Goss (rlgoss at evansville.net) wrote: > Thanks for chiming in, George. I figured you would know more about it > than I do. Just out of curiosity, is there a general "rule of thumb" > concerning hot vs. cold riveting related to size? > > In looking through some references last night, I found that rivet > specifications are given differently for shop vs. field installation. > That came as news to me after trying to teach students something about > the process for better than 30 years. > > FWIW, on another list > I've been talking for a couple years about a > tractor restoration project I've > been working on. Part of it involved > the complete restoration of an MD-6 sickle mower bar -- everything from > the pitman outward. That is the design that was purchased and modified > for use as a tractor-mounted mower back in the 40's. One of the things > that has apparently disappeared from the market are the rivets that we > all used to have a supply of for making new pitman bars. I finally > found a supply of them at Johnson Hardware in Orrville, Ohio, and > through a series of email threads and actions by members of that group I > now have the entire inventory. This is just something to keep in mind > if you need to build an historically correct sickle bar for some reason.