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Appreciation post: the 6 inch rule for upsetting rivet heads saved my riffle file and my sanity
I keep seeing new folks at our shop in Akron try to rivet a handle strap with about 2 inches of steel hanging past the vise, and then they wonder why the work bounces and the hammer glances. Last Tuesday a guy named Devin was fighting a wrought iron bracket for a gate latch, and his tongue iron was bouncing so bad he chipped 3 rivet heads before I walked over. The fix is to keep the work buried in the vise so only about 6 inches sticks out where you're striking, because any more than that and the bar acts like a spring and eats your blows. I learned this the hard way 8 years ago on a fireplace poker when a long unsupported tail whipped back and smacked my knuckles, and I still have the scar to prove it. You also want the head sitting flat on the anvil or a bolster plate so the force goes into shaping the rivet instead of bending the bar. Count your hammer taps too, because 4 or 5 light hits per heat beats pounding it cold and getting a crooked head. Anybody got a hold-down jig they like for riveting long straps without a second set of hands?
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