rivet question

papakeith · Post by **papakeith** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 9:04 pm

Alright, I know that this is probably a no-brainer, but it popped into my head and I can't shake the question.

Here's the setup:
I'm joining two strips of aluminum
They will be dimpled and then riveted together with a solid rivet.
I'm using the avery rivet gauges to measure the proper amount of squish and the head height .

and the question.

when using this gauge on a dimpled piece of metal, is the gauge supposed to meet with the flat surface of the metal being joined or the highest peak of the dimple?

Post by **bullojm1** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 10:31 pm

Short answer: Highest part of the dimple. Long Answer: I recommend using a caliper on a rivet to really get a good feel for how the rivet gauge is supossed to be used. Remember, a properly set rivet's shop head should be 1/2 the diameter of the rivet and twice the radius of the rivet. Once you have a properly set rivet via the caliper method, check to see how the rivet gauge compares to the "perfect shop head".

tmbg · Post by **tmbg** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 10:53 pm

it's tough to tell with a dimple, but you oughta be able to put the gauge on the shop head and be able to tell if the gauge is obviously hanging below the bottom of the shop head (head not tall enough), or stopping short of the bottom of the shop head (head tall enough).

After a few, you'll develop a "calibrated eye", and be able to tell by looking if it's formed properly.

Wicked Stick · Post by **Wicked Stick** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 4:48 pm

tmbg wrote:it's tough to tell with a dimple, but you oughta be able to put the gauge on the shop head and be able to tell if the gauge is obviously hanging below the bottom of the shop head (head not tall enough), or stopping short of the bottom of the shop head (head tall enough).

After a few, you'll develop a "calibrated eye", and be able to tell by looking if it's formed properly.

That's what I do. Works for me.

painless · Post by **painless** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 10:03 pm

I started out using my rivet gauge while working on my empenage, and as posted earlier, my eyeball method was then properly calibrated to allow me to forget about the gauge.

One tip I have for telling if your shop heads are set properly in areas where you can't actually see your work is to press your finger, fairly hard, onto the shop head. Then pull your finger out of the area and you should see a temporary depression in your finger. Once again, you will be able to get a feel (sorry for the pun) of how well the rivet is set with the appearance and depth of the depression in the skin of your finger.

May not sound real technical to most, but try it. It works.

YMMV