You can take the top piece to the drill, then realign the pieces and mark the bottom piece with the center punch. Important note: For the first rivet securing any 2 sheets of metal, the holes can be drilled separately. Pick a ‘good’ side for your pendant and mark the spot for the first rivet with the center punch.Ĭhoose a drill bit with the same diameter as the rivet shank and put it in your drill. If needed, hammer the pieces down on a flat surface. Now that the rivet anvil is made, gather the last remaining tools: a center punch (I use a spring loaded one) and a hammer.Īssemble the two pieces as shown. In a pinch, a solid wood surface will work, but I like the backing of the steel block. When setting rivets I place the rivet anvil on a large steel block on my bench. You may want to try a rivet or two on scraps of metal before jumping into the pendant instructions. You will not know if or how the rivet head will be distorted until you use the anvil to set a rivet. Once you have used the larger bit, place a rivet head into the dimple and verify that the rivet head is slightly above the flat surface of your anvil. Lastly, do the same with the larger bit, widen the hole, but do not drill as deep as the previous. Next use the middle sized bit to widen the hole slightly, but do not drill to the same depth. No worries if you drill too deep, you can try a different spot on the same piece of steel if needed. Unless you break out the micrometer, you will have to eyeball the depth. Using the smallest bit, drill into your steel piece to a depth slightly less than the thickness of the rivet head. If you were to only use one drill bit to create the dimple, the angled head of the bit will make a cone shaped dimple which will disfigure the round head of the rivet. You are going to step through the bits to create a round bottomed dimple. To create the dimple you will need 3 drill bits: one that is the same diameter as the rivet head, one that is 1/32” less than the rivet, and one that is 1/32 larger than the rivet head. The rivet anvil is basically a hard surface with a dimple to set the round head of the rivet in. Grab a good drill index as you will need various bit sizes from 1/16” up to 9/16” in 1/32” increments. You could use a hand drill, but be very careful to keep the drill as perpendicular to your work piece as possible. To finish the pendant you will need some sort of jumpring for the necklace to run through.įor all drilled holes, I use a drillpress. Read through the tips in Step 7 before deciding what to use for your rivet anvil.įor the pendant you will need a 2” X 2” piece of heavy copper sheet (I used 16oz roofing copper) and a 2” X 2” piece of aluminum sheet of the same thickness. The hole will come in handy, but a solid bar of steel will work just as well. I made mine out of a thick 1 ½” washer with a ¾” hole. For the rivet anvil, you will need a small piece of steel. I have not found a versatile rivet anvil for sale, but they are easy to make. To protect the curved head, it must be set in an anvil while hammering. The secret to a nice looking round rivet is the preservation of the “factory” peened end. Rivets are generally sold by weight, but for this project you will only need one copper round rivet and one aluminum round rivet of the same size. Their prices are the best I have found and the customer service is fantastic. I found a great supplier online: They carry some hard to find sheet metal and a large variety of rivets. I decided to write this instructabe to help other who may have an interest in using rivets on their own projects…Īt first I was just going to use scraps to document my techniques, but then I realized that I could make a simple pendant that should cover the steps well and end with a cool entry for the necklace contest!įirst you need your rivets. After many projects, I began to work on my technique so that my finished projects have a clean look and finish. When I first started using rivets I knew the basics: drill a hole, insert the rivet, pound the heck out of it. Why use adhesives or ugly nuts and bolts when you can use permanent solid round rivets to create a nice looking solid connection. Round rivets are my favorite fasteners for sheet metal. Show how to use these tools and skills to make a cool pendant Show how to make one of the tools required to set round rivetsģ. show how I set round rivets to decoratively fasten sheet metalĢ. This instructable is going to serve 3 purposes:ġ.
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