Rivets that are flush on both sides: What is the tool called?

I have the common pop riveter that leaves a nice looking flush rivet head on one side and a long and ugly protrusion on the other side. I would like a riveter that will make nice flush rivet heads on both sides.

Can someone tell me what this is called and direct me to where I might buy one?

Thanks.

Welcome to the forum.

This link shows the various rivet styles.

https://www.hansonrivet.com/rivets/know-your-rivets

A press is required to use the smooth rivets. The rivet length must be properly selected.

Thank you, Wingless! That’s a great site… though a bit overwhelming to me. Could you make a suggestion? I’d be using these rivets for both plastic and aluminum. So, two pieces of plastic some times, and other times, two pieces of aluminum. The material thickness would be 1/8″ or less per piece.

So, I’d like a rivet that would be suitable for both materials… and a press that’s simple and inexpensive.

fishnaked wrote:

2 hours ago, fishnaked said:

Thank you, Wingless! That’s a great site… though a bit overwhelming to me. Could you make a suggestion? I’d be using these rivets for both plastic and aluminum. So, two pieces of plastic some times, and other times, two pieces of aluminum. The material thickness would be 1/8″ or less per piece.

 

So, I’d like a rivet that would be suitable for both materials… and a press that’s simple and inexpensive.

Double cap. You use a punch an a little button anvil to assemble. I’d recommend aluminum because of something called galvanic corrosion, it can cause rust if the coating of the rivet wears off and contacts the aluminum. The aluminum and plastic will work fine also.

This is an example of the kind of rivet in a set on Amazon, though I don’t think any of them are aluminum. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0771JN7S1

Thanks, BMack37! Those rivets look good… and are certainly very affordable. I like that! However, I was thinking something like one would see used in the motor sports arena… like on custom race vehicles. Any ideas?

Another way to get a flush bond is to spot weld.

I’m not really sure what those heavy duty flat rivets are called and if they are even usable outside of a factory with a press.

You can use a usual pop rivet and cut off the sleeve then use a body hammer to flatten the ball.

You may want to try a metal working/machining forum for this particular question…and try to be specific, the answers can change wildly with gauge of aluminum and stress load. I don’t think there is a two-piece rivet for high stress fastening, I think they’re all heated and hammered…but I could be wrong.

Google ” installing aircraft rivets” They are solid rivets that are air hammered from one side while a dolly is held against the back. In things like leather work they use 2 piece rivets that are put together in the same way. They are very flat on both sides but not exactly structural. In both cases the rivet grip range must be matched to the thickness. That is also true of blind “pop” rivets. If you use the shortest one who’s grip range covers your thickness, there will not be a lot sticking out the back.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

This post is a little old, but I found blind rivets with mates do the trick:

https://www.hansonrivet.com/rivets/blind-pop-advel-rivets/mate-rivets/[External image (www.hansonrivet.com), not copied]