Need Input on Rivets

EastCoastCB

EastCoastCB

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2014
Posts
23,835
Location
Eustis FLORIDA
I'm looking for someone who's knowledgeable on the subject of rivets to answer a few questions.
Where can I get some locally (central Fl)?
What grip range should I be looking for if I'm riveting 14 ga to 18 ga with maybe an overlap of 18 ga on some edges?
IDK, I'm trying to have everything ready for this roof raise and its suddenly hard to get ahold of supposedly common things I NEED.
Looking for 1/4" CLOSED end blind rivets in steel, not aluminum.

THanks for any help, folks!:Thanx:
 
Don't know if you have em down there in FL but there's a company called Fastenal that should have any rivet you would ever need. They're usually pretty decent on pricing too...

-edit- there's a fastenal in Taveras over by lake dora
 
Last edited:
slaughridge85 said:
Don't know if you have em down there in FL but there's a company called Fastenal that should have any rivet you would ever need. They're usually pretty decent on pricing too...
Click to expand...

I checked their catalog, but alas they do not have what I'm looking for. I NEED quarter inch, and its a sea of three sixteenths out there in rivet land.

Another question-
How many cleco's do I need to do a skin job after the roof raise??
 
It seems to me that open-end aluminum blind rivets can be had anywhere, even at most 7-11 convenience stores. But when you make the jump to steel and solid or closed-end blind, suddenly nobody stocks them. I don't usually have trouble finding things in the Salt Lake City area, but solid rivets are one thing nobody knew where to find here.

I've been treated well by Hanson Rivet in CA and Jay-Cee Sales & Rivets aka Rivets in Stock in MI (despite the latter being poorly reviewed elsewhere here on skoolie.net). Unfortunately both are not exactly "local" so hopefully you've got some timeline to spend on shipping. I tried to find something in WA for you, just to get diagonally opposite of FL... :hide: kidding!

As for clecos: I have a pair of 4x10 foot 16 gauge sheets hung on my bus with 4 clecos each. They've been like that for about 5 months now.. They're strong enough to carry the weight. Add more clecos in proportion to the level of concern over having ripples showing up in the metal, whether there's any adhesive or seam sealer being applied which needs to be clamped down quickly before it sets, etc. As I recall aaronsb had a picture on his Broccoli thread wherein the whole sheet was held by a whole lot of clecos and he heated (or mechanically stretched?) the panel to ensure it would stay flat. If one were super concerned about the fit, or had complex contours to deal with, it might make sense to go to the extreme of using a cleco in every rivet place then swap them out for rivets one at a time. You'd also need to add more clecos if you want to position more than one panel at a time. In a nutshell: I'd guess at least 20, up to maybe 50 or so. Those 1/4" clecos are priced crazy, though... you might consider using 3/16" clecos and drilling the hole bigger when it's time to install the 1/4" rivet. My personal stock is (I think..) 25 of the 3/16 and 5 of the 1/4.

Regarding length: I figure you've got .075 and .048 inches for the two sheets if they're pressed tightly together plus another .075 for the occasional lapped sheet. That's .200 inch. I'd look for something with a minimum grip around there and probably maximum grip as much as I could get. Loosely-held panels could have a gap of .050 or more between them until the rivet starts pulling together.. I think you'll need something with maximum grip of at least .300 to be comfortable, and more if you're using seam sealer or adhesive in the stack-up. Having to pull a long rivet is mildly annoying, but having the rivet too short to hold reliably is Really Bad.
 
I see. Did I mention I'll be using the HF hydraulic riveter?
That's why I bought it- it will do 1/4" rivets. At least I won't be doing them all by hand!
I'll order 20 clecos and go from there, thanks a ton. None of the fastener suppliers return my calls or emails, its getting frustrating.

ANyone coming to the bus gathering got the stuff for doing solid rivets? I'd consider that route, too, idk.
I just gotta get this all sorted out.
 
Keep an eye on the grip length vs actual length. With a blind rivet the overall length should be a fair bit longer than the grip length -- it'll be grip length plus diameter of the mandrel ball plus thickness of the closed end plus a bit of material to get a good deformation. I'm not sure whether the blind type are sold by grip length or actual length.
 
family wagon said:
Keep an eye on the grip length vs actual length. With a blind rivet the overall length should be a fair bit longer than the grip length -- it'll be grip length plus diameter of the mandrel ball plus thickness of the closed end plus a bit of material to get a good deformation. I'm not sure whether the blind type are sold by grip length or actual length.
Click to expand...

grip length I think.
 
Let me check here in Nashville. There is a ton of sheet metal work and bus work done here surprisingly. Can you send me via email the exact specs of what you are looking for?

I have to go to the bolt supply house that I use tomorrow and there are 10 fastener companies in a small area nearby. They will be able to tell me how hard it would be to find here locally.
 
I need 1/4' all steel blind CLOSED END rivets with a grip range of .125-.250 (I think!).
Probably need about 500... I need to go out and get a count.
 
I put in a "request for quote" for the ones I need.
I've filled these forms out for a week or so now with not one follow up or anything. Not even spam.

Thanks man, maybe they'll come through.
I may just order 500 or so off ebay if I can find em on there. Last I checked it was pretty much all aluminum.
 
I may have found them on Grainger's site. Coulda swore I'd checked it before.
I'm gona try to order some. They're so cheap I'm skeptical.

Edit- nope...
Grainger didn't have em in closed end. So I snagged some regular, plain steel, open end in 1/4" on CLEARANCE. Got a thousand of em for $60 shipped.

Then I went over to Rivetsonline and finally found my beloved closed end blind rivets in the size and grip range I need. So I also ordered a thousand of those.
http://rivetsonline.com/closed-end-blind-rivet-pr84ffph.html

Now all I gotta do is order some square tubing and seam sealer.
Oh and probably some rv windows.
Gettin 'spensive.
 
Last edited:
EastCoastCB said:
I may have found them on Grainger's site. Coulda swore I'd checked it before.
I'm gona try to order some. They're so cheap I'm skeptical.

Edit- nope...
Grainger didn't have em in closed end. So I snagged some regular, plain steel, open end in 1/4" on CLEARANCE. Got a thousand of em for $60 shipped.

Then I went over to Rivetsonline and finally found my beloved closed end blind rivets in the size and grip range I need. So I also ordered a thousand of those.
http://rivetsonline.com/closed-end-blind-rivet-pr84ffph.html

Now all I gotta do is order some square tubing and seam sealer.
Oh and probably some rv windows.
Gettin 'spensive.
Click to expand...

How much did you end up paying for those monsters? They still have hem, but 2000 would be $800. Is that the going rate for stainless?
 
Truffles said:
How much did you end up paying for those monsters? They still have hem, but 2000 would be $800. Is that the going rate for stainless?
Click to expand...

Think I paid like $300 or $400 for a thousand or so.
I've done a lot of little projects and barely made a dent in them. They were pricey but doing all my own work I like to use the good stuff.
 
Truffles said:
How much did you end up paying for those monsters? They still have hem, but 2000 would be $800. Is that the going rate for stainless?
Click to expand...

2000 is a lot of rivets, and under $0.50 ea. is a good price. If you want to save a little, use 3/16" instead of 1/4" - 1000 of these would be $250.
 
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