Michigan pneumatic

http://www.michiganpneumatic.com/

Go to the catalog, and select the rivet buster section (page 105 is the start). They are very helpful. We picked up a rebuilt CP #80 riveter and had a #30 caulking hammer rebuilt by them in the last year or so, and in the past have had a few other tools rebuilt, as well as got tooling, from them. At one of the shop I work in, we do a fair bit of hot rivet work.

 

Sounds like quite a task; cut and punch-out of 1800 rivets - cold.
I hope the rest of the structure can take the rattling!

I wonder if drilling, or maybe drilling first and then a rivet buster, wouldn't make it easier.

Portable C-punch?

Good Luck

 

I'm setting here chuckling to myself thinking about the noise levels for a few days there. Be nice if this was next to city hall.

 

Whaat? :laugh:

 

From what i have seen and been told rivet buster is the fastest way @ 45-90 seconds a rivet. The way i bid the job if i can do one every 5 min i will still make a profit.

At that rate i don't even believe that a scarfing tip would be any better/more cost effective. Plus the general contractor is providing the compressor, fuel, and hoses.

I went out and got A grip load of ear plugs, ear muffs, and a set of Scott goggles to hold the muffs on my head tight and keep the eyes well protected.

I wish this job was next to city hall. I fore warned the general that he's going to have a mutiny on his hand if he try's to make the framers work while were beating away.

The good news is when i originally looked at the job the architect wanted to replace everything exactly like it came out. Removing then Re-installing 1800+ HOT Rivets would NOT have been my idea of fun.




thanks for the link ENLPCK. They might be able to hook me up with what i need. What's your preferred bit for shearing the heads off the rivets to replace them? A strait chisel or? recently there was a fair amount of rivet busting on the retrofit of the bridges around here, the iron workers say they used a bit that was cupped to cradle the head of the rivet as they blasted through it. any idea where i could find some of those chisels?

 

Dualie,
Even after the rivet head is gone, punch-out can be a real chore.

Remember, a correctly installed rivet has a shank that has expanded into stacks of plate, and the shank is usually under shear pressure. Sometimes hammering on the head-less rivet seems to want to make a new rivet head, rather than walk out the shank.

Next thing is that a chisel chews up the metal surrounding a rivet head. If this will be architectural exposed work, that could be an issue.

You'll just have to try a few and see how it goes.

Good Luck

 

3/4" is huge to me. The experience I have is with 5/16" - 3/8" rivets on semi trailers. I used a 3lb hammer and a straight chisel to do about 500 or so rivets. The real tough ones got drilled then chiseled. I don't envy you having to deal with 3/4" rivets at all.

 

Would a Mag-Drill with some kind of end mill work ?

 

Ditto to denrep that the hard part often comes after removing the head.

When busting with a chisel, I regrind the end of an offset chisel. I don't put any cup on the body (the underside stays basicly flat), but I do put a little dish in the cutting edge. Maybe 1/8 back at the center of a 1-1/4" wide chisel. This helps keep the chisel centered on the edge of the head.

I prefer burning rivets out. Wash the head off, burn up the center of the shank, but not all of the way through, and use a drift. The drift sits on the bottom of the burn hole and pulls the rivet through. The shrinkage from the heat-cool cycle of the burn, and the loss of the core lets the shank shrink.

They can also be drilled out, but the head should be cut off first, since the head isn't necessarily on center (ASME SecVIII used to spec max 10% of shank dia as offset on pressure vessels. Common practice would accept rivets with offsets of 25% or more in many fields.) Even then, it can be tough, as the shank may be stepped. Typical installation practice was to work around a joint for many joint types. As rivets are installed and shrink in, the material distorts a little. Working a prepped seam from one end to the other leaves you with an oil can where you can't make the finish up, and may not be able to get your tack bolts out, even. Double, triple, etc. riveted seams were worked around as well to distribute the load. It isn't uncommon to be able to identify the first few rivets installed in a heavily riveted joint: the material can pull and shift enough to shear the rivet shank half way of more. These are a bear to get out, and when they are, the offset hole that remains is pretty useless unless you oversize or weld it up and rebore.

As a side note: be SURE that the tool retainer is properly fixed, and still check your tool path in case it comes free or breaks. DO NOT think of these tools as hammers. Think of them as firearms. We keep several heavy hunks of wood (oak, ash, whatever... block material) around to whale on when setting up a tool or draining the air lines. It is a good idea to have a positive valve in the air line where the whip attaches hooks up to make the tool safe. Not running, shut the air off and bleed the line.

 

Thankfully all of these rivets appear to be tight. the material their going through one side is just delaminated and rusted all to hell. Its 15' long sections of 4x4x1/4" angle that was hot riveted into C12 channel. The angles are ALL Rotted to hell and back again to the point that i hit one with a 3.b beater and a couple of pounds of loose rust hit the ground.

I only have to be carefully of ONE side of the material. I just cant be throwing fire around inside the building. If it was up to me i would carbon arc the little F'ers off and be done with it.

I was thinking of installing a ball valve just before the inline oiler of the tool and its whip. I will definitely keep some wood blocking around for chisel changes. The tool i have uses a ball detent locking collar style.

Honestly i didn't think i was going to get this job and they called me on Friday to let me know that i had it and could i start on Monday. I bid it so fat for the unknown that I didn't think i would get it.

Now i have to pull all the tools and equipment necessary to put this job into action ASAP.

 

If one piece is waste (the angle from your description) It may go fast.

Busting off the head rattles the heck out of the shank, and the stretching (from the pull on the head) can help loosen it, but it can still be a pain to drive out. If one part is waste, it can go with the rivet and life may be a lot easier.

 

well tomorrow is D-day, im bringing out my war tools that i acquired and what sunbelt rentals is bridging out and were going to grown a rivet assassin buy noon tomorrow. Funny part is my sister company is also starting a huge retrofit job, that involves busting several hundred rivets in an occupied warehouse.

i think the hammer i have is grossly underrated for the job, SO i got mat coming from sunbelt with the big hitters to see what's what.

 

Curious how the "rivet busting" went, or is going.

 

its TORTURE! The carpenters on site think im the devil. The saving grace is i have a kid that works for me that's an animal and actually LIKES IT! by the third day he actually took my advice and started slowing down a bit so he wouldn't be as sore the next day.

The worst part is its all overhead and the crap that rains down from the rusted ledger angle is possibly the worst part. If the wood around it wasn't so damn dry i would be rocking the carbon arc and just blow the heads off and beat the angle loose.

 

I about busted a gut when I read this Dualie.

Just keep on keepin' on, until you can hear the carpenters screaming overtop your own equipment...

Or until they bring in a priest and try to exorcise you from the job site.

How about a picture or two?

its TORTURE! The carpenters on site think im the devil.

 

:laugh: Reminds me of doing retrofits for plumbers. Had a cop show up at one job we were doing because a neighbor complained about the noise. Cop said he could hear us running the jackhammer inside the building with the doors and windows closed, 2 blocks away at the light with his windows up and the A/C on full. Of course he's screaming this at us at the top of his lungs while we're wearing foam plugs and head gear to soffen the noise. Boss wanted to know what the fine was going to be if we didn't stop, since we needed to have the job done by morning.:laugh::laugh:

 

Eh im not worried about them wood butchers. They dont scare me at all. Hell i eat 7/8" rivets for breakfast lunch and dinner.

 

And now you know why I use a torch for this whenever practical.