How To Rivet Sheet Metal

Blind rivets are made of two preassembled pieces.

How to rivet sheet metal. It s best to use one corner of the brake bend one tab turn the piece bend the next tab and so on. Leah demonstrates how to use a pop riveter which is a great tool for attaching and repairing metal items of all types. How to rivet sheet metal step 1. Drill a 1 8 inch hole through one or more sheets of metal that need to be riveted up to 1 2 inch thick.

Both pieces are inserted into a hole and a special tool appropriately called a riveter is placed over the mandrel. Use the table below to determine the length of the blind rivet. Insert a rivet into the hole. The grip range corresponds to the total thickness of the materials being joined together.

Next bend each tab making sure that the nose of the brake is right up against the bend line. First set the nose back from the joint about 0 032 1 32 the thickness of the sheet metal. If there are already rivet holes clamp the pieces together and install your rivets. These hole marks should be punched with a center punch just deep enough to start the drilling.

Clamp the sheet metal in place. Drill your rivet holes through every piece of material that will be riveted while the pieces are clamped securely together if the rivets are going to be installed into new locations. Use the box brake to bend the tabs 90 degrees. The greater the diameter of the blind rivet the stronger the join.

Squeezing the grips together causes the mandrel to be pulled into the rivet body which expands on the other side of the material. The drill diameter depends on the type of rivet in the hole. The tubular rivet body and the setting mandrel. Links to pop riveter rivets.

After selecting the rivet size and placing the sheets the holes must be marked for drilling.