(Fwd) BOUNCE orchid: HELP WITH RIVETS

Forwarded Message FollowsFrom: caffree@aztec.asu.edu (SUSAN B. CARD)
Subject: HELP WITH RIVETS
To: orchid@ganoksin.com
Message-id: 9609081701.AA13197@aztec.asu.edu

Greetings All! Does anyone know anything about making rivets (to
assemble things (art, jewelry, etc). Especially using tubing (so that
the ends form a “small washer-finding look” to the piece. Is it a
special type of wire and tubing? Are there special tools?

Any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks much,
Susan

From: caffree@aztec.asu.edu (SUSAN B. CARD)
Subject: HELP WITH RIVETS

Greetings All! Does anyone know anything about making rivets (to
assemble things (art, jewelry, etc). Especially using tubing (so that
the ends form a “small washer-finding look” to the piece. Is it a
special type of wire and tubing? Are there special tools?

Any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks much,
Susan

I showed this message to our in-house jewelry designer/repairer/alterer.
He doesn’t have his own e-mail access yet, but he wrote down some
suggestions which I’m passing along:

"I’ve been able to produce the look you’re talking about with a solid
piece of rivet wire. It takes some practice & some unique tools.

"If you have your rivet in place, drill a hole in the ends of the wire, to
make pits in the ends. Each pit must be as straight as possible to form a
uniform ‘washer’ edge. The deeper the pit, the bigger the washer; the
wider the pit, the more metal is pushed over the edge to hold the piece
being riveted. This takes some practice. I usually use a gauge of drill
bit that is slightly less than half of the gauge of the wire.

"Once the pit is ready, I take a small punch that I made from an old
broken-off burr; the punch’s point is about like an unsharpened pencil. I
hammer with this punch to increase the width of the pit. Then I start
pushing metal over the rivet hole to secure the piece.

“Once the pit has been stretched out a little, I then use a chasing tool &
a hammer; after that, a chasing hammer, or any hammer that has a good
smooth finish on the face. It takes some practice but but it usually
works well & produces nice-looking results.”

I hope the above is helpful.

Joel Kahn <@Joel_Kahn>
Comptroller for Maxon’s Jewelers
Diamond Merchants & Estate Jewelers
Authorized Dealer for Rolex & Tag Heuer
2622 S Glenstone, Springfield Missouri 65804 USA
Voice: 417-887-1800 or 417-887-1809
Fax: 417-887-3422