Stainless Pop Rivets

[rogerschwake]

  I like to tinker with my Sun Cat and trying to rig it better than it came from the factory. Have all the lines led aft and added a down hall and lazy jacks. Most of these changes take me a couple tries witch adds extra holes to the boom and mast that I fill with aluminum pop rivets. When I'm adding cheek blocks and other hardware I like to use stainless pop rivets and had not found a source for them at a reasonable price till now.
                          www.albanycountyfasteners.com
Bought 25 - 3/16" by 1/2' long 304 stainless steel pop rivets for $5 with free shipping and received them in 3 days. They have all kind of stainless fasteners not just pop rivets. I've just tried them this once but was happy with them.

[brackish]

Hey, thanks, I've been looking for a small quantity supplier of stainless fasteners that doesn't kill you with S & H charges.  Bookmarked for future use.

[skip1930]

Are you sure ss is for you? You all ready bought them so forget this message. A few on the mast I guess won't be too bad. Using them in a blind hole? Forget the washers.

Here's what I found when riveting Austin Healey center sections back together.

1~SS is going to kill your hand held riveter. And your going to kill your hand.

2~Straight steel pops are also too hard to pop by hand. Same pull is required for ss or steel. Material makes no difference.

3~If your using steel go rent the biggest, meanest air operated pop riveter you can find and a air compressor.

4~If you can rent an electric one that would be O.K. too. Very rare to find one. Not a market success.

5~Whatever your going to use for popping [pulling] buy an extra set of jaws. Your not going to set too many ss rivets with one set of jaws.

6~Consider aluminum if this job will be set using a hand tool riveter.

7~What's the benefit with ss ? [heat? doesn't matter] [corrosion ? How many years is good enough?]

8~If your doing glass; A glued flange that has been riveted is fine. A set aluminum rivet between two fiberglass flanges will hold just as nicely as steel or ss.

9~You could bolt the flange together. Blind hole? Could screw it.

10~And if the fiberglass is funky and flaky and nutty consider a longer rivet with two rivet washers top and bottom of the glass to cover more fiberglass area. Won't pull out of the glass.

11~If you go with ss and you up cuff a rivet, you'll not be able to drill it out very easily

skip.

[brackish]

Skip I'm not a pop rivet expert, but do know something about metals.  This is a gross generalization depending on alloy but for the same diameter pop rivet, shear strength is three times greater for stainless and tensile strength is about 2.5 times greater.  If I have a cheek block on my mast held on by pop rivets subject to serious loads, I think I'd go with stainless.

Dwyer, the supplier of spars for Compac and many other boats recommends SS pop rivets to attach many of the accessory items to the mast and boom extrusions.  Good enough for me although I generally tap and use SS machine screws where I have enough thickness to make it work.

Now for low load applications in other materials, your point is well taken.

[rogerschwake]

  Have not had any trouble with my hand operated pop rivet tool, it is over 25 years old and used lots of times for stainless rivets as well as aluminum. I'll admit it does take some extra effort to set stainless rivet but they are so much stronger that it is worth the extra effort. If they have to be removed stainless rivets make sure to use a sharp bit with a little lube and plenty of presser, if the bit just spins it gets hot and won't work. To get some jobs done the right way it does take a little work.
ROGER

[skip1930]

The 'fixture' to be popped riveted on usually has enough punched holes in it to be safely riveted with aluminum rivets.

I have never had any 'fixture' fall off from rivet failure. ie, the boom vang and such.

Just saying going ss is a pain.
Not that it doesn't work.
And Dwyer being a factory outfit can and will do ss. They have the tools, the man power, and the industry responsibility and the liability insurance to worry about.
 
"Begs the question, how good is good?"

" If they have to be removed stainless rivets make sure to use a sharp bit with a little lube and plenty of presser, if the bit just spins it gets hot and won't work. "

Grind the head off? Plenty of pressure ... yep and a flat blade screw driver pushed up against the rivet being drilled could help hold the rivet still when drilling. A two man job.

skip.