Riveting advice

[rfrey]

Hi, I'm new here so apologies if this is the wrong place to ask this question!

I've been having a ton of fun making some glasses, and I hope to launch a boutique line of frames in my hometown soon. They're all acetate.

One issue I have is riveting. I'm using hinges riveted on both the front and temple, partly because it seemed somehow stronger to me, and partly because it was more accessible than other methods for hand-manufacture.

So my question is about staking tools. I've been riveting using a hammer, but that's pretty unsatisfactory both because of the work involved and because I so often end up marring the hinge or the acetate or both. I know (think?) that the right tool is a staking tool, like the Clavulus.

I'm willing to pony up for one of these (anyone got one for sale?) but I'm confused how it works! I've tried pressing the rivets using a home-made contraption and they always bend inside the acetate, distorting the hole and not holding well at all. I don't understand how the clavulus will do that differently.

I hoped somebody could explain to me how the thing works before I spend $300 to get a machine!

Thanks a lot! Again, apologies if I put this in the wrong place.

Rod

[mshimp]

check with grobet/vigor.

[rfrey]

check with grobet/vigor.

Thanks mshimp! I actually did find some places I could buy a staking tool (Not vigor though, thanks for that link!). My problem was understanding how the riveting function worked *before* I shelled out my way-too-rare dollars for one. I was surprised that there are no videos of people using a staking tool to do riveting, etc. that I could find.

Oh well! No pockets in a funeral shroud. I'll just get one, I have an account with McCray Optical in Canada.

[rfrey]

Words have been spoken in my shop. Not polite words.

I got the Grobet staking tool in, and I'm getting the same problem. The rivets are buckling inside the zyl instead of cold-forming. I wish I could figure out what I'm doing wrong.

[mshimp]

You might need to cut the stakes a little shorter before riveting. Also you can use "hot fingers" to help recess the rivet into the zyl. Make sure the riveting device is a small "bowl" shape. Hope this helps.

[uncut]

There are a few things that I would like to know.

Are the rivet heads tapered, and are the rivets the correct size(do they bind when dry-fitted)?
Are the holes drilled or......?
Are you going through a metal core in the temple?
Are these single rivets or plaqued unit?
Are you sure you have chosen the correct dome head accessory for the rivet size?
Are you cutting the rivet ends with a cutter that leaves a flat end to dome or a "pinched" result to dome.
Are you using the compression tool, prior to doming, and is it the single or double one chosen?
Have you created a depression for the hinge plaque to reside in?

I know ...more questions than answers!

[rfrey]

Hi, uncut. Thanks for taking the time!

- Rivet heads are not tapered as far as I can see. How much taper do you mean? I can check with my micrometer if that scale is relevant.
- The rivets are 1.15 mm +/- 0.03mm or so (from a Highly Scientific Sample of about 10 rivets). My holes are 1 mm. They bind when I push them in and need to be tapped in with a hammer, I can't push them in by hand.
- Holes are drilled on a CNC mill with a 1mm twist drill
- I am not currently using a metal core. That'll be another thread soon enough.
- I use both single rivets and a double plaqued one. Depends on my mood and the phase of the moon.
- I am not sure I have chosen the correct dome head accessory. The Grobet tool came with 2, a small and a large. I used the small, the large seemed way too big.
- Definitely my cutter leaves a pinched end. I do have some rivets that are the right size so they don't need cutting though.
- I don't know what the compression tool is! I didn't know there were two steps, compression and doming. Breakthrough???
- There is a pocket that the hinge goes in, 1mm deep. There isn't a pocket for the rivet heads.

I'd like to know more about this compression tool thingamabob!

[uncut]

Hi, uncut. Thanks for taking the time!

- Rivet heads are not tapered as far as I can see. How much taper do you mean? I can check with my micrometer if that scale is relevant.
- The rivets are 1.15 mm +/- 0.03mm or so (from a Highly Scientific Sample of about 10 rivets). My holes are 1 mm. They bind when I push them in and need to be tapped in with a hammer, I can't push them in by hand.
- Holes are drilled on a CNC mill with a 1mm twist drill
- I am not currently using a metal core. That'll be another thread soon enough.
- I use both single rivets and a double plaqued one. Depends on my mood and the phase of the moon.
- I am not sure I have chosen the correct dome head accessory. The Grobet tool came with 2, a small and a large. I used the small, the large seemed way too big.
- Definitely my cutter leaves a pinched end. I do have some rivets that are the right size so they don't need cutting though.
- I don't know what the compression tool is! I didn't know there were two steps, compression and doming. Breakthrough???
- There is a pocket that the hinge goes in, 1mm deep. There isn't a pocket for the rivet heads.

I'd like to know more about this compression tool thingamabob!

Glad to add my nickel(cent is obsolete)!......

Some rivets , and plaqued ones may have a taper under the head, the hole they go into may also need a slight countersink.

The dome head chosen will depend on the softness of the metal used, and the material softness that the rivet stands in.

Prior to doming, the pinched end will cause the rivet to deviate(part of your dilema), so flatten or file the ends of the snipped rivet with a shoe file.

In your arsenal of attachments you have various backing materials(hard fibre, metal, and metal with shaped receptacles for repairing broken hinges and plaques. Use a appropriate backing material based on the make up of the temple material. Practice on a few metal temples first, since acetate/plastics take finesse. In your staking(top holder). will fit a shaft that has two slots on each side. This is used to compress all components together into the recesses routed into your temple. The separation causes the rivets(two attached to plaque, to bend slighly outwards, locking them into the hinge. This is done before cutting the rivet to length. You will also notice a single compress shaft, which has a hole in the middle to recess the uncut rivet, and a flat side. This is used to compress a hinge a single rivet at a time(alternate), and the taper is to allow compression to the rivet close to hinge hardware. Remember that parts are compressed first to the finished position, and the doming is only for the rivet end.

[harry a saake]

When cutting rivets, one cut will almost always leave the V you describe, try taking those dikes and make several cuts around the rivet, in a circular fashion, then take your snipes and bend back and forth several times and the rivet will break off with a flat surface