Rivets: An Introduction

“You have to sell billions
of them to make money...”
“...Don’t waste your time!”

Full PDF here

I can still remember my fathers’ words. However, over the last few weeks I thought it was time for me to learn about rivets. I started by asking people who have been in the industry a long time - they simply rolled their eyes. What I have learnt is, there are rivet guys and non- rivet guys....... and there aren’t many
rivet guys around!
This article is not meant to be a detailed technical publication; I have attempted to keep it interesting to a person in the fastener industry who does not know a lot about rivets.

Advantages of Rivets:
• Excellent system to clamp relatively light gauge materials together. There are many applications where the back of the job cannot be accessed such as fastening to tubes or walls. Rivets are perfect for these applications and hence are known as “BLIND” rivets as there is no need to access the rear of the joint.
• Cost effective as they can be installed by non-specialised labour up to 15 rivets per minute.
• Reliable

Blind rivets are a two part fastener consisting of the Shell (Rivet Body) and the Stem (Mandrel). The rivet is “set” by drawing the stem through the shell, which causes the shell to “swell” and clamp the material together. The stems breaks off during this process once the correct clamping force is achieved. The head of the stem remains trapped in the bottom of the shell to ensure the clamping force is retained in the joint. Various tools are used to withdraw the stem ranging from hand operated to pneumatic tools. Blind rivets are designed to clamp together specific thicknesses of material and it is this grip range that forms part of the ordering description for rivets.

How is a Rivet Described?
n. A metal pin for passing through holes in two or more plates or pieces to hold them together.

Head Type:

The most common is the Truss type or often referred to as Dome head, and is known as type 73.

Grip Range:
This is where a lot of people get confused; the grip range is NOT the length of the rivet. The grip range is specified in 1/16th of an inch (1.6mm). To select the correct rivet, it is necessary to measure the thickness of the material to be clamped.