A Great guide to riveting... ^_~

[Chixofnix]

Hey everyone!

I just stumbled upon this exceptionally easy to understand guide to pop riveting... hopefully this'll make some of us a little less apprehensive to the concept of pulling apart/reassembling our cases (it did for me ^^)

*** Here is the guide *** (http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/Poprivets.htm)

enjoy ;)

edit: thought i might throw this in too... credits go to:
For our entire timber joints section we are very grateful to www.technologystudent.com for allowing the use of their material. All images and text are © V. Ryan 2002

[SolidxSnake]

good guide. All i need now is a way to remove rivets, and I'm set...

[Chixofnix]

good guide. All i need now is a way to remove rivets, and I'm set...

from what i've read elsewhere (not experience... but i'll have some b4 the summer's over...) you'll just want to use a 1/16" or 1/8" drill bit/power drill to drill them out.

should that not work (in the case that the rivet 'spins' with the bit), then after a failed attempt needle nose pliers can 'grab' the scrunched up metal side together and the rivet should fall out.

if all goes as planned maybe i'll make my own pictorialized guide to riveting oriented towards computer case modders, as opposed to the machinists/aviation hobbyist's guides i've seen thus far...

btw solid is that a rubber band you're stretching in the avatar? i've been meaning to ask... :p

[sheldron]

rivits are easy to remove. all you need is a drill and a drill bit that is slightly larger than the pin in the middle. Drill out the center of the rivit, and the rings will just fall right off.

and it looks like that's a screwdriver in his hand.

[Chixofnix]

ah! thanks sheldron...

and i had just found this too on a mailing list archive for a call-in radio talkshow for machinists:
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: [TowerTalk] Removing rivets?
From: k1ttt@berkshire.net (David Robbins)
Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2001 16:55:41 +0100

if the rivets are tight you can use a drill bit just a bit larger than the hole
in the rivet. most pop rivets take about a 1/8" hole, i use a 3/16" or so bit
and drill just until the head comes off, don't push hard and stop quickly or you
will enlarge the orginal hole. when the head is off you can use a small awl or
nail set to push out the back side of the rivet.

if they are loose in the hole you can use a small dremel(sp?) tool or a file to
grind the head off.

if they are really loose ones and are aluminum you can often get a pair of side
cutting wire cutters under them and just snip the heads off.


screwdriver eh? could be a jumprope too :)

[Ciffer]

i kinda knew how that worked but i didn't realize it was that simple, and if you need to remove rivets, use a drill, rivets are a soft metal, you could probably use a wood bit.

[Enablingwolf]

When I removed the rivets from my motherboard tray support. I used the itty bitty drill from an ink refill kit. The one that taps the cartrige for filling. It was a bit slower but I got exact drilling and was super cheap. Took about 5 minutes to take out 4 rivets. I could of been faster, but I am slow like that, and the :beer: was tasty.

When the bulb(head) gets loose you are close enough to push out the pin with anything slim enough to push into the head with. I used a paperclip. Very simple to do. All you have to do it get the head(like a nail head) cut down so the rest can pass through.

If your going to be redoing rivets alot. Allen bolts with a nut work great too. Anodized bolts are a neat option. Not sure if colored rivets are easy to get.

[Ciffer]

riveting is very easy, fast and cheap. which completely explans why it is widely used

[KillerTarget]

I just modded one of my cases by putting the mobo tray on the other side of the case and I popped the rivets off by first taking a nail and getting the pin popped out and after I was done with that took a flathead screwdriver and popped off the rivet on the side I was working on and normally the other side of the rivet would fall out, but when it didn't another small tap of the hammer and nail would pop it out. I later learned from my Dad on how to do it properly with the drill, but when it is the middle of the night and you can't sleep and want to work on your case modding project you find a way.

[Chixofnix]

I just modded one of my cases by putting the mobo tray on the other side of the case and I popped the rivets off by first taking a nail and getting the pin popped out and after I was done with that took a flathead screwdriver and popped off the rivet on the side I was working on and normally the other side of the rivet would fall out, but when it didn't another small tap of the hammer and nail would pop it out. I later learned from my Dad on how to do it properly with the drill, but when it is the middle of the night and you can't sleep and want to work on your case modding project you find a way.

thanks for sharing!

I wasn't aware of a powertool-less method before ^^

[KillerTarget]

I call it the cheap way to do it when you are bored, but beware this will scratch the hell out of whatever you are taking the rivets out of. For me it was alright because it was the interior of the case that will not be viewable even if i put a window in.

[SolidxSnake]

I call it the cheap way to do it when you are bored, but beware this will scratch the hell out of whatever you are taking the rivets out of. For me it was alright because it was the interior of the case that will not be viewable even if i put a window in.


good point,

and chixofnix, thats a knife in my avatar. Check out my Fortron in Repair thread, and check out the pics. My knife rests on top of the PSU in those pictures.

[Zulu-1]

lmao.. ninja style! ;)

[Emon]

If a rivet is spinning in place when you're trying to drill it out, you can try holding it on either side with pliers, or "swishing" the drill back and forth and drilling at a slight angle (be careful your bit isn't too large or you'll enlarge the hole). Cutting at a slight angle can help the drill bit to bite into the metal.

[Eric1285]

Nice guide, thank you! Might use this when I try to mod my shuttle.

[Tay]

I used the almighty dremel. Just shave of the top of the rivet, then punch it out with a nail.