Removing rivets

[81artmonk]

Need to remove rivets in armor. Any suggestions on how to do that without harming the armor other than a minor hole which I assume can be filled with Apoxie paste. I have tried drilling, but the rivet comes loose and spins and the friction melts the ABS. Others that didn't move, the mere friction of the drill bit created enough heat to melt the ABS.

[Darth Hilarious]

Are you using nice sharp drill bits?

 

Rivets are quite soft, the drill should rip through them like butter...

[Dday[501st]]

Like you found out already, the drill bit will heat up the rivet, if you spend to much time drilling you will just melt the entire size of the rivet. Use a pair of pliers on the rounded head of the rivet to hold it steady and drill, use a sharp bit and only drill for 2 seconds, then wait 5, then 2 seconds, then wait 5, this way it doesn't heat up to much. It really should only take 2 seconds to cut it back just enough to get it through. You might use a pair of cutters to cut the back off as much as possible, less for the drill to have to get through. I grab the back with pliers and squeeze, then twist, takes the head off and I only have to drill for one second to get it clean past the washer so it can come out.

[tkrestonva[TK]]

If these are pop rivets, I was able to push them out (when I redid my sniper plate) simply by taking a hammer and pressing out against the shaft, until it was far enough out of the hole to grasp it via pliers and gently pull it out. No drill was needed.

[Sonnenschein]

Maybe this helps:

 

[RogueTrooper[TK]]

I just use a good drill bit and botta bing the rivet lip is removed and that is that....

[bigironvault]

I don't know what to say, I used a titanium drill bit a rivet.

[vader74]

a drill is all you need worked with a mate installing sheet metal air con ducting and it was drill drill drill untill the drill bit was full of old rivit rings

remove and drill again

[Nicky]

Maybe you drilled enough with the small one, switch to a larger gauge to start pushing it further and it might cut enough on the sides. But be careful, until some point then you should start acting like an animal on the rivet using pliers or something to pull it out.

[Darth Hilarious]

I don't know what to say, I used a titanium drill bit a rivet.

 

This is totally off topic, but I can tell you exactly what happened here (I'm doing this here in the thread rather than by PM so that this info is public for all).

 

In recent years, lots of titanium products have become available, and a general advertising has built around it, to the point where companies will try to tell you that titanium is a magic metal that does everything better.

 

This is bad for two reasons.

 

1) They're using crappy titanium.

Like other metals (steel, aluminium, bronze), titanium comes in varying grades. MOST products on the market are made using the lowest grade of titanium. Here's a table of grades, with comparative strengths.

 

2) Even really good titanium makes crappy drill bits.

Titanium is known for its strength. This means it is hard to bend or dent.

This is not the required quality for good drill bits. What you want is hardness. Check out this table, comparing the hardness of various metals. Titanium (which grade, though? see the problem with grades?) rates a 6, while hardened steel ranges from 7-8 (depending on grade).

So even hardened steel drill bits will stay sharper for longer.

Tungsten is even better (I use tungsten bits)

Diamond-tipped bits are even better still.

 

Long story short, you got ripped off, dude.

Edited September 7, 2012 by Darth Furious

[81artmonk]

Thanks for the advice,. What I did and it worked great was, I used a set of snips to clip the top off the rivet. Than I used a larger drill bit like advised to drill it out. didn't take much before the inside washer fell off. Than all I needed to do was use and awl and carefully push the rivet out, which I than used pliers to carefully again remove it.