Riveting or...drill, hammer, repeat. Part 4

Riveting with an Escutcheon Pin, or with a Wire you've domed the 'Back'

This is Part 4 of my series of blog posts about Riveting with a Nail Set tool. Please see Part 2 of my blog post series for general information and additional tips.

Part 1 was about my two days of experimentation and practice with riveting; I worked on three different methods of using annealed, solid Brass Escutcheon pins as well as learning to use a Nail Set tool instead of a ball peen or riveting hammer as I was use to. 

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Riveting with an Escutcheon Pin, or with a Wire you've domed the 'Back'

There are a variety of riveting kits and specialty riveting anvils that you can either purchase online or in a store. These tools help to turn one or even both ends of the rivet wire into a dome. 

You can also create your own dome making tool if the metal of your anvil is 'soft' enough to 'drill' into. A Round Bur will create a concave half-sphere on the surface of the anvil. Start by making a dimple with a scribe and drilling a very shallow pilot hole with a drill bit. This hole stabilized the Round Bur so you can remove enough metal to create the concave half-sphere that will hold and shape the rivet's dome. It can be used to made one end into a dome similar to an Escutcheon pin's or prevent an already domed rivet head from getting flattened while hammering the opposite end.

The advantage of using a solid Brass Escutcheon Pin are: 

• it already comes with a pre-made domed head on one end which saves time from making it oneself
• it's perfectly formed
• it's a consistent size
• a solid Brass pin can be annealed to make it easier to shape
• even if it is scratched or damaged it will retain its color since it is not brass plated over steel

1. Drill, debur, and insert the Escutcheon pin or domed wire as shown.

Drill the holes that will hold the body of the rivet: 

Use drill bits that are the exact same diameter as the pin's shaft or wire, a good fit gives better results. Both ends of the open hole do not need to be counter sunk, but the side that the Escutcheon pin's dome rests should definitely not be counter sunk. The opposite end can be counter sunk which will make the rivet sturdier, but will require a longer rivet to fill the extra open area.

Debur the openings of the drilled hole:

There are several ways of deburring, which leaves cleaner results:

• sand the surface smooth to remove the sharp, raised metal
• gently press a Round Bur, that is wider than the drilled hole, against the lip and twist a few times just enough to remove the excess metal bits
• use slightly larger Drill Bit the same way you would a Round Bur
• Be careful since the uneven edges could make either tool bounce out and scratch the surface. 

The Escutcheon pin or wire must be annealed and 'Dead Soft': 

Hammering the metal into shape is easier the softer the metal is and requires fewer hammer strikes. 

2. The Domed ‘Back’ end touches the anvil, it will get flattened.
Push the 'Back' down against the flat anvil so the dome sits flush against the bottom surface as shown, to create a tighter fit.

3. Cut the ‘Front’ end to length and sand it flat. 
Cut the 'Front' end of the wire with a pair of flush wire cutting pliers. Use a sanding disk to remove any points so that the wire is flat as shown.

4. Place the Nail Set tool and hammer it.
Place the concave dome of the Nail Set tool over the stub of the wire and rest the dome of the rivet onto the anvil. Hammer several times in all 8 directions in opposite pairs, for example: north, south, then east, west, then NE, SW, and then SE, NW. This will spread the force of the hammer blows so the wire end is evenly reformed and fills the concave area forming a dome.  

The 'Front' end of the rivet gets domed by the Nail Set tool:

Nail Sets usually come in sets of three and each tool has a concave dome at the bottom with a different diameter and depth. It is easier if the hole is not counter sunk. Chose the one tool from the set that best suits the diameter of the wire so as the dome forms it entirely fills the space to form a smooth dome. You might need to experiment with what length of wire you need to leave by making a couple as tests. Do note down the length needed for that diameter (gauge) of wire so next time you save yourself from needing to make a test rivet.

The pre-domed end gets slightly flattened:

The dome resting against the anvil gets progressively flattened while hammering from the front. This flattened side is usually placed at the 'Back' of the piece for a couple of reasons: the flattened domes aren't necessarily all evenly flat and there's a smaller chance that the front of the piece can get damaged while pressed against the anvil.



Riveting: Using a Nail Set Tool and Escutcheon Pins

Riveting: Using a Nail Set Tool and Escutcheon Pins

You can see several examples of rivet styles #3 and #4 in the photographs of my experimentation, from the graphic at the top of blog post Part 3.