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DIY oops rivet?

Everwild

Well Known Member
Has anyone tried making a DIY oops rivet? Is there an engineering reason why when in a pinch one should not take an AN426AD-4-X rivet and just make the factory head slightly smaller?

I tried making one using a scotchbrite wheel and initially had a hard time getting a nice even round factory head. Then I chucked a 4- rivet in a drill and spun the rivet while lightly touching the factory head to the scotchbrite wheel. I was able to make a rivet that looks as good as any oops rivet, and actually the head has a little more meat on it than a 3-X oops rivet would have. Fills the dimple slightly more and is flush with the skin.

I know oops rivets are cheap and I'm going to order a bunch ASAP, but would this work in a pinch or add it to a list of bad ideas?
 
It won't have the dimple that indicates what material it is, but I don't see that it's any different that using a rivet shaver, other than it just seems really labor intensive and hard to get a consistent result.
 
It won't have the dimple that indicates what material it is, but I don't see that it's any different that using a rivet shaver, other than it just seems really labor intensive and hard to get a consistent result.

Agree with you for sure. It def wasn't an efficient process but goofed one up and don't have an oops on hand yet. Was a lot faster than waiting on shipping these days.

I always assumed rivet shavers were for removing lots of rivets quickly (universal or shop heads) but didn't think about them being used as a tool to flush a 426 rivet. Found a couple of YouTube videos showing what you're talking about. Learning something new every day!

Another tool to feed the habit? Probably not. Those things look spendy.
 
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You can also make one by taking a rivet a dash or two longer and plumping up the shank by slightly squeezing it between your flush sets in a manual squeezer.
Experiment until you get a good fit in the hole.
 
FYI, I made a DIY rivet shaver by using a shaving bit in a countersink cage and driving it with an air die-grinder. The High RPM is key. It worked great for the couple of rivets I wanted to shave.
 
It won't have the dimple that indicates what material it is, but I don't see that it's any different that using a rivet shaver, other than it just seems really labor intensive and hard to get a consistent result.

The dimple on head of the rivet is not purely for identification... it has a dynamic purpose that enables the rivet to attain the strength rating that it has.

When the rivet is set that small amount of extra material get pressed into the head of the rivet, changing its shape a slight amount to assure a full / tight filling of the countersink with the rivet head.
 
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That doesn’t make sense regarding the dimple proper but that’s my problem. The slight concavity of the man head observed on some rivets, that would be very easy to conceptualized the intent you mention. Any more insight that could be provided regarding your statement would be appreciated. The question gets deeper when considering other rivet types. Thx
 
My comment was related to the specific part # rivet NAS1097.
It is a feature specific to that rivet.
There are different part # rivets that have similar but different features that were designed into the rivet for a specific purpose other than identification.
 
You never referenced 1097s. I’ll state again, any such feature/benefit would intuitively be related to the aforementioned concavity of those manufactured heads, not the dimple proper.
 
You never referenced 1097s. I’ll state again, any such feature/benefit would intuitively be related to the aforementioned concavity of those manufactured heads, not the dimple proper.

NAS1097 is what everyone uses as an oops rivet.

As for the other part…. I have no idea what you mean…. but ok.
 
I “pre-squish” and fattened up shanks on regular rivets by holding with a long nose pliers on my vice’s anvil and hitting the shop end with a small tack hammer. YMMV.
 
As for the other part…. I have no idea what you mean…. but ok.[/QUOTE said:
If the intent is to increase strain hardening of the head, there has to be a mechanism to increase the localized strain of the material. A dimple won’t do that. The added material on top of the man head will be both the cause and effect of the aforementioned when bucked…. but OK.
 
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