Need Help!- Solid Riveting

[JeffreyCNY]

I need to set solid rivets in a product for production, in a small business. I need to set a 1/8" diameter solid copper rivet. I tried a ball peen hammer, but it isn't great for production. I looked online at squeezers, but the one I was quoted is $1800. I am thinking of trying a 3 ton arbor press. We plan to make 200 products a year.

Does anyone have first hand experience with a squeezer?
Has anyone used an arbor press to set solid rivets?
Does anyone have first hand experience with solid rivets?

Thanks,

Jeffrey

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

Can you rig-up an air chisel with a rivet forming tool? (small air hammer)

Just a thought.

Dick Z

[Geof]

You should need less than 1000lb to set your rivets so it is well within the range of a small arbor press.

If your rivets are countersunk you don't need anything except flat steel for your dies. If they are domed you will need to make a simple die plate by machining a hemisphere with a ball nose mill and similarly in the end of a piece of steel rod for the top die.

[dgapilot]

I do aluminum rivets on aircraft with a hand squizer or a rivet gun (similar to an air hammer) with rivet sets. Look here for tools for rivets http://www.yardstore.com/

David

[little bubba]

I've done more solid rivets than I care to count, it could have only been two, but still more than I ever wanted to do. But its been a lot.

We have a pedestal mounted air riveter and a handheld air powered riveter for the assemblies that we do that require solid rivets.

As for the arbor press, I've made some fixtures that had to be used on an electric over hydraulic press. The problem there being over or under squishing. With a proper riveter, you can set your squish to get the proper size head, both in height and diameter(proper length rivet of course). If you can set yourself up a stop, you can probably get away with the arbor press.

Check E-bay, thats where we got the hand squisher, $160.