David Sparkes Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 I will soon have to remove some blind rivets, and they will be followed by even more. Mostly they are aluminium rivets into aluminium sheet, but some are steel rivets. I recall reading about a purpose designed drill bit that makes a much better job (than a standard drill bit) of removing the rivet head, while minimising the risk of jamming into the rivet and spinning it in the hole, or going in slightly off-centre and enlarging the hole while not completely releasing the rivet. The trouble is, I can't recall the correct name for the tool, has anyone else come across such a device? I see that if I'm to believe the Google results 'everyone' uses ordinary twist drills, sometimes with a rocking motion, sometimes with a woodworking chisel, sometimes with a mini-grinder. All methods OK for 1 or 2, or even half a dozen, but somewhat lacking when there is over a hundred to do, IMHO. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 this might be the tool you've heard about http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/topages/rivetremoval.php but more for solid rivets, at work we just drill the heads off & punch the tails out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtyninety Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 I have a friend that restores classic cars, and he uses a special drill bit. I shall have to ask him what its called! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean f Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 Spot weld drill often works OK. Making sure the drill is sharp and not leaning on it to hard help to stop the rivet spining most of the time. Only time I usually have problems is if there is a bit of the steel shaft of the rivets still sticking up in the middle where it has snapped of a bit high then it is almost impossible the to centre the drill and make a clean job of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M&S Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 Drilled out hunndreds on Wednesday and just do what Western does, drill the heads off and punch the tails through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 Again, I just drill off the head, and punch the left overs though. I tend to use a bit a similar size to the head of the rivet, don't go too small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 You could always grind down the end of a drill bit so it can seat in the rivet's centre hole before drilling, that should do the trick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Sparkes Posted April 26, 2011 Author Share Posted April 26, 2011 Spot weld drill often works OK. I have to admit that threw me initially, because the 'spot weld remover' I have is like a mini hole saw that cuts around the outside of the weld. Now I've seen these I imagine they are what you were meaning, and they are almost what I had in mind, but I think the form of the tip will still cut into the metal I want to reuse. Otherwise it matches (more or less) the idea from elbekko. I was recommended by the K7 Bluebird Restoration Project to use a Cobalt drill, at low speed, with lubricant. As my local supplier doesn't stock that style of bit I'm afraid I'm still dithering about what to buy, and where from!! I don't really want to be hammering to knock head of the mandrels out because I can imagine the bodywork distorting. Using the kit I have may mean trying a rose countersink bit to cut the head from the stem of the rivet. This has worked on some long rivets 3/16 dia x 5/8 long, but I don't know whether it will be as successful on the twee 1/8 x 1/8 rivets. I might have to flatten the very tip of the countersink bit on the grinding wheel so it doesn't strike the remains of the mandrel before the cutting edges take the head from the rivet stem. Thanks to everyone for the replies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 To me, a spot weld/sheet metal drill seems the last thing I would want to try and drill a rivet out with. The idea of them is to cut the outside first, the very opposite of what I want in a drill to remove pop rivets. I want to drill the top off the rivet from the middle-out, not the outside-in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secondjeremy Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 I simply use an ordinary 5mm drill. Sometimes I use a larger one if its handy - but have to be a bit careful only to remove the head and not damage the surrounding metal. I'm talking about 3/16 - 5mm rivets of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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