Blind rivets are a popular fastener widely used for joining sheet metal. This fastener is installed very simply, but its disadvantage is that the rivet connection is non-separable and during installation, maximum care must be taken when determining the installation location of the hardware. But what if, nevertheless, a mistake is made and the rivet needs to be removed?

We use a drill

A rivet connecting sheets of metal can be removed just as easily as it is installed. In order to remove the hardware, you will need an electric drill and a metal drill. The diameter of the tooling of the drill should be slightly larger than the diameter of the rivet shaft, but less than the size of the head. When starting dismantling, you need to know that the ultimate goal of drilling is the destruction of the head holding the fastener in the metal, and not the complete drilling of the rivet. In the event that the diameter of the rod of the product is unknown, it is necessary to measure the outer rim and, based on this parameter, find the desired size in the hardware manufacturer's catalog.

When drilling a rivet, the number of revolutions of the drill chuck is set to a minimum - this will allow you to complete the work as efficiently and quickly as possible. The end of the drill is installed in the recess formed by the sides in the center of the head, and the tool itself is positioned so that its axis is strictly perpendicular to the material connected by the rivet. You need to start drilling very carefully so that the drill does not slip and cause damage to the material. In some cases, especially when it comes to miniature fasteners, it is recommended to use a hand drill.

When the drill "passes" the head of the blind rivet, the connection will break. In some cases, when the hardware rod does not fall out after reaming, it is recommended to use a hammer and punch of a suitable size. In order to knock out a rod from sheet metal, 1-2 accurate blows of medium strength are usually enough. If the work is done carefully, then the metal around the junction will not be damaged. After the rod is removed from the hole, you can move on to the next rivet.

The method described above is good in cases where the work needs to be done as carefully as possible, and there is a drill and a set of drills at hand. But sometimes, if the aesthetic component is not too important or when there are no power tools at hand, you can use another method, for example, knocking down the rivet head with a chisel.

Blind rivets are made from non-ferrous alloys or mild steel, so it is not at all difficult to “chop off” its head with a chisel. To remove fasteners, the cutting edge of the tool is inserted under the edge of the head, and then hit with a hammer until the top of the hardware is removed. The remains of the rivet can be knocked out with a punch of the appropriate size. It should be said that this method is not sparing for the elements to be joined and, if the metal around the rivet was painted, the coating will inevitably be damaged.

In the past few years, in hardware stores you can find such a tool as a riveting nozzle. This is a simple and effective rivet remover that comes with an electric drill. The principle of working with a nozzle is the same as with a conventional drill, but at the same time, drilling can be done faster and more accurately. The device allows you to accurately set the drill above the center of the head and drill to a depth strictly limited by the setting, sufficient to remove the upper part of the hardware. Unfortunately, this device is not universal and for fasteners different sizes you will have to use interchangeable accessories of different diameters. The purchase of a nozzle makes sense only when a large amount of dismantling is to be performed or if the work is carried out in extreme conditions. Often, drills with such equipment can be seen in the arsenal of roofers working at height - working with a nozzle allows you to remove hardware using one hand.

Many industrial products use rivets as a way to securely and quickly fasten a knot that will not be disassembled later. Often this is how thin sheet metals. If you have a need to remove the riveting and not damage the surface of the product, then I will offer three methods available to everyone to achieve the desired result.

Rivet drilling

The simplest and safe way, from the point of view of mechanical action, this is drilling with a drill.

We take a screwdriver or drill. We install a drill of the required diameter. And drill through the rivet.

We pass through.

This method will not damage the metals to be joined if the drill is chosen correctly. Although it is quite specific and will not suit you if your rivets have a semi-circular head.

cutting grinder

This is the fastest and at the same time the most traumatic way to remove rivets. Therefore, if you are uncertain about using such a tool as an angle grinder (grinder), I sincerely do not recommend using it.

We will need:

• Bulgarian.
• Screwdriver.

Angle grinders cut off the heads from all installed rivets.

And pry them out with a screwdriver.

That's the whole trick.

With this method, it is easy to damage the surface of the product and break the disk itself, since the cutting is at an angle. And one wrong move can ruin everything. Be sure to use protective equipment.

Cut off the head of the rivet with a chisel or screwdriver

Now the way that is called the classic. It is used by most of both professionals and beginners. It does not require special equipment, electricity, training. The most affordable and at the same time the slowest way to cut rivets.
You will need:

• A hammer.
• Screwdriver or chisel. It all depends on the diameter of the rivet.

If the size is small, take a screwdriver, set it at an angle and cut off the hat with hammer blows.

If the rivet is large, then it is better to use a chisel. We act with them in the same way as a screwdriver.

We also knock out with a screwdriver.

This method can be used when there are few rivets: one, two or three. Or when there is none of the above equipment in the first two methods.
If there are a lot of rivet joints, it is certainly better to use a more mechanized removal method.
Be careful when working with metals. Also share your suggestions in the comments, everyone will be interested.

A rivet is an excellent and durable type of fastener. But unlike bolts, nuts, studs and screws, it cannot be removed without damaging it. The bolt can be unscrewed with keys or a screwdriver, after which it can be reused. The torn rivet will have to be thrown away. The question also arises: "How to rivet rivets if there is no riveter in the arsenal?"

The essence of the rivet

The rivet is a disposable fastener. But it is also the cheapest. If the device is made forever and does not involve disassembly of parts in the future, these parts can be riveted with rivets. They will hold just as strong as the screws, but will be even more reliable. The screw can loosen over time, but the rivet itself will not disperse, since it is impossible to rivet it without the help of special tools.

Rivets in construction and mechanical engineering

There are many. Some have the form of a single part - a sleeve, which is inserted into the hole and, using a special riveter, the edges of the sleeve are expanded on the other side of the parts to be joined and pressed (flattened). Such rivets are the most common, cheap and reliable. They are mainly used in construction and mechanical engineering. How to rivet a rivet of building varieties?

Dismantling the construction rivet

It is difficult to call this action dismantling as such. This is a removal. To remove the rivet, you will need a regular rivet with which it was installed. But since it is not at hand, it is worth figuring out how to rivet a rivet without a riveter.

Rivets, in which the head or bent part sticks out above the plane of the riveted parts, you can try to break with a sharp chisel and a hammer:

1. Set the cutting part of the chisel exactly under the head (or bent part).
2. Hit the chisel with a hammer. Some large rivets may require several blows to break.
3. When the cap (or bent part) is torn off, it remains only to remove the rivet from the hole. This can be done by pushing it out with a nail or other thin object (such as a screwdriver).

But more often you can’t get to the hats and bent parts, since they are, as it were, in the body of the fastened parts. Under the caps and expanding parts in the details, special grooves are drilled at the factory, and then the rivets sit in the metal like a glove. How to rivet rivets in such a "tricky" case?

Here a screwdriver (or drill) with a drill for metal selected according to the diameter of the rivet will come to the rescue. Proceed as follows:

1. With a core, make a notch on the head of the rivet so that the drill does not walk, although some are used to doing without serifs.
2. Install the screwdriver bit on the head and drill out the inside of the rivet.
3. When the drill passes through, the remnants of the cap and the expanded part fall out on their own.

Rivets on clothes

But rivets are also used in the manufacture of various kinds of clothing models. Their use began back in the 19th century, when, when sewing trousers made of rough canvas, which would later be referred to as jeans, one of the craftsmen noticed that if the seam was riveted at the beginning with a rivet, it would definitely not disperse or tear.

Here rivets are used, which are more suitable for the name "buttons". Unlike ordinary ones, they consist of two parts - internal and external. Everything is held together by the fact that the head of one element enters the cavity of another. Then, under the pressure of the riveter, the head of the inner element is flattened (expanded) inside the cavity of the outer element, and such a "super button" can no longer be broken, no matter how hard you try. The fabric is more likely to tear. How to rivet rivets of such varieties?

Removing rivets from clothing

This is done in two ways. One - with the help of side cutters, the other - with a knife and a pair of pliers. The choice of methods depends on what kind of rivet you have - alpha (internal) or beta (external). The corners and edges of the stitching are mainly riveted with alpha varieties, which are otherwise called eyelets. Beta is used in cases of buttons that fasten clothes. One part there is alpha, and beta is riveted to it. Despite the fact that such rivets hold the material perfectly, they are afraid of mechanical impact.

How to rivet alpha rivets with a knife and two pliers?

It is done.

And how to rivet a beta rivet on clothes? It's even easier here. The procedure is as follows:

To date, the most reliable version of fasteners is one-piece, and, having special tools on hand, you can not think about the question of how to rivet a rivet. Next, we will describe exactly how such fasteners are performed.

1

What is this fastener? Initially, historically, it is a metal rod, less often a plate. Always with a mortgage head on one side (a cap that limits the movement of the element in the hole) and a closing head on the other end. It was first used to make armor such as armor and chain mail, as well as to combine some elements of melee and early firearms. If the embedded head is present initially, then the closing one arises due to the process of upsetting (riveting) or with the help of a special tool due to deformation by a drawing rod. It is logical that the draft is applied to cast or stamped, all-metal elements, and deformation by the rod is possible only when using hollow (tubular) blind rivets. There are also explosive and split options.

Various types of rivets

So, we know that the fasteners we are considering are one-piece, which often ensures high reliability. But the strength of the connection depends primarily on the material, so we will first consider the varieties of rivets according to this characteristic. The most common are aluminum fasteners, in many production processes, and a number of crafts use copper and brass rods. All these materials do not have a high degree of reliability and are suitable only where there are no large loads, for fastening decorative parts. Among other things, there are steel rivets, including those made of stainless steel, they provide a fairly strong connection and are even suitable for assembling load-bearing structures and mechanical engineering.

Very important for installation metal parts use rivets from the same material as the elements to be joined.

2

Before using rivets, you need to know how to properly rivet certain parts. There are many ways to connect, but they are usually divided into 3 types. Strong fasteners are used exclusively where certain loads are present. Tight, as the name implies, is needed in order to ensure tightness at the joints of sheets or any parts. And, finally, firmly sealed perform both functions. It should be noted that for the second type, that is, for hermetic rivets, the embedded heads are made reinforced.

Blind rivets

The most common method of connection is overlapping, while it is applied not only to, but also to details of complex shape. This option is also called single-cut. Under the influence of multidirectional loads, for example, when stretching, such a seam can easily deform. A butt joint is more durable, using one or two (on both sides of the seam) overlays, but this option, also called multi-shear, greatly burdens the structure and leads to greater material consumption. The installation of rivets during fastening can be chain or staggered, the second is more reliable, but very laborious.

Mortgage heads are the most different forms. The most commonly used are semicircular and hidden. The former completely cover the hole, like a screw head, and for the latter, the channel is flared so that the head, which has the shape of an inverted cut cone, fits completely in the hole. In the second case, the surface of the part remains smooth, since the riveting occurs flush, and the destruction of such rivets becomes difficult. There are also semi-hidden form factors (with a slight rounded bulge), flat, flat-conical, conical and oval.

3

The most commonly used today are pull-out riveting elements, which are especially convenient if you need to attach a part to a surface whose opposite side is inaccessible. They are a tube with a flare at one of the ends (analogous to a mortgage head), in the channel of which a rod with a cap passes at the even end of the riveting. From the flared side, a large part of the rod is extended, with which the tool clamp is engaged, for subsequent pulling through the tube. Its smooth end is crushed by the cap of the rod and forms a closing head.

Rivets for metal

However, it should be borne in mind that when two parts are connected, its channel also expands, so the edges of the holes must be strong, not subject to deformation. Therefore, to fasten plates made of a sufficiently soft material, be it plastic or aluminum, embedded steel bushings or washers should be used on both sides of the connecting parts. The same applies to joints that must be movable, articulated, they are also applicable in combination with bushing washers, and their length must exceed the total thickness of the plates being fastened.

4

Unlike pull-outs, conventional cast or stamped riveting elements must be installed using certain forces applied to the trailing end. This can be pressing or targeted impacts to flatten the end of the rod emerging from the hole. The second option is most reminiscent of forging, especially since it is performed in a cold or hot way. If the thickness of the riveting does not exceed 1 centimeter, cold forging of the closing head can be used. If the diameter is more than 10 millimeters, then it is necessary to heat the fastener to facilitate flattening of its end.

Rivet tool

As a rule, before hot riveting, the rivet is heated in a forge, after which it is installed in the hole and a flat closing cap is made with a few strong blows. In this case, an anvil with a hole under the mortgage head should be located below. For the cold method, a special tool is used - a striker with a semicircular hole, with which an even hemisphere is formed by deforming the end emerging from the hole within the recess. Forging with an ordinary hammer gives the same result if you hit the butt, directing the blows slightly casually, from the center to the edges, but such a head will be less accurate.

5

As we have already said, the type of connection under consideration is one-piece, however, if you still need to disassemble the structure, the parts of which are riveted together, you can use several different methods. The most common, which is usually applied to exhaust, explosive and split types of fasteners, as well as where there are countersunk heads, is drilling. To do this, a drill corresponding to the estimated or precisely known diameter of the hole is installed exactly in the center of the mortgage or closing head, after which a hole is made to the required depth or a through channel. After that, with a few precise blows, you can easily knock out the riveting.

Rivet removal tool

The second method is somewhat laborious, however, quite effective for heads that are clearly visible above the surface, that is, for semicircular and conical heads. You will need a special chisel, resembling a chisel shape, with which you need to cut off the hat, causing sharp and strong blows to the back end of the handle. A sharpened chisel may also work, but this tool is only recommended for small diameter rivets. Fasteners with a rod of about 1 centimeter or more are very difficult to cut in this way.

The easiest method for removing raised rivets is to use an angle grinder, colloquially referred to as a grinder. It is best to install a cutting disc on it for this purpose, and, bringing it to the side of the head, carefully cut it off. If there is a possibility of damaging the surface of the part from which the joint is being removed, it is recommended to use a coarse grinding wheel, with which the head is simply gently ground down to the base. Further, by installing any sufficiently sharp tool, for example, a punch, you can easily knock out the rivet rod from the hole with a strong hammer blow.

A rivet is a disposable fastener designed to fasten 2 or more parts. To install this fastener, a riveter is used. How to remove the rivet will have to proceed from the availability of improvised means, because there is no universal tool. In addition, the selection of materials for metal structures is carried out in accordance with the technical specifications.

Aluminum, copper, steel differ in hardness, to varying degrees they are subject to diffusion, oxidation rates and other physical and chemical processes. The only way that can be called almost universal is drilling. This process can be carried out in 3 ways, which in most cases depends on how close the fastening metal is to the fastened elements.

How to remove a rivet

The pull rivet is somewhat easier to remove. When dismantling it, it is necessary to remove the ring formed during fastening. If possible, when compressing the material of construction, insert a saw blade for metal, the fastener can be cut off, and the pin removed by pulling out the rod. If there is no way to cut or cut, there is always a chance to remove the mount using the first method - to drill.

A secret mount can only be removed by drilling, and exhaust heads can be knocked down with a hammer if the strength of the material fastened by them is greater than that of the mount itself. Provided that using this method of dismantling, there is no certainty of 100% safety for own hands and appearance material, it is better to refuse it.