Well, there was that one time when the electric drill broke, and I had to hand-drill out several rivets with a dull bit...That took a while... Does that count?
Reminds me of the time I walked to work in the snow. Uphill. Both ways. In California.
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AIR #15800
"Wimpy" 1/2 ton 2002 GMC Sierra 4X4 Z-71 Gasser
2000 Safari SS 25'
I think Shari hit it on the rivet head... stainless, that is your problem. I would be willing to bet a buck that those rivets are stainless and that is why it takes so long. I bet those were re riveted by someone using stainless. Keep going, they will drill out. I do not recommend you shear them with a putty knife. The problem is not scratching, it is the shaft left behind when the head is cut off. Those shafts, will need to be drilled out later or they will impede you putting it all back. I sheared all the rivets holding my belly pan in, before the new pan could be installed, I had to go back and drill off the shaft from the backside. Talk about a pain in the backside... I do not know about your trailer, but in 1962, the rivets hold tight to the back side of the panel. Using a punch removes only 20% of them, the drilling out of that shaft gets to be very tiresome, so just drill them out from the start. If you use a corded drill, it will have more torque to drill out the rivet. Speed is not the important factor. torque is. I use a very heavy Milwaukee hammer drill in the drill only mode. It has a LO gear setting. That thing just eats up those rivets and produces a continuos shaving until the rivet is done. Maybe 30 seconds, tops. I also leave the heads on the drill bit. When the drill bit is full of heads, I toss the bit in the trash. Good bits are a must... Graingers has good quality ones in my opinion.
I think its a good idea to drill about one skin thickness past the head also. If you stop at that point, the expanded part of the rivet that is holding it in the skin will be shelled out, but it still leaves the tail part as a solid chunk. Some of them you can push right on through with a scratch awl, the rest you can pull off from the inside with pliers.
Grab the tail with a pair of pliers with serrated jaws. Give it a little tug and a quarter twist and it will pop out, and bring the rest of the rivet tail with it.
On the other hand, If you drill all the way through the rivet shaft, you end up with just a few shreds of aluminum that you need to dig out with a dental pick.
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There's a fine line between a hobby and a mental illness.
I'm using a number 30 bit. I'll definitely try ordering some the higher quality bits if it will shave a lot of time. Still, I'm thinking an ordinary bit should be fine for a rivet master? Maybe not.
Usually I keep drilling until the bit taps a hole drills completely through the rivet. What I'm left with is usually the head of the rivet still attached to the skin with a hole completely through the rivet. From there I use something to pry the head off slightly. Then a pair of needle nose pliers does the trick to extract the entire head which either breaks away from the remaining shaft leaving the shaft still in the hole. If the shaft remains I use one of the needles on the pliers to slightly suggest it out.
Only occasionally would I end up with a head on the bit. These are the solid buck rivets under discussion. With the interior pop rivets or the larger belly pan rivets I end up with a metal head on the bit every time.
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Todd
“Complications arose, ensued, were overcome...savvy?”
If you use a corded drill, it will have more torque to drill out the rivet. Speed is not the important factor. torque is. I use a very heavy Milwaukee hammer drill in the drill only mode. It has a LO gear setting. That thing just eats up those rivets and produces a continuos shaving until the rivet is done. Maybe 30 seconds, tops. I also leave the heads on the drill bit. When the drill bit is full of heads, I toss the bit in the trash. Good bits are a must... Graingers has good quality ones in my opinion.
From 3 minutes to 30 seconds tops with a good bit and drill. My cordless Makita, using a new bit, was producing a continuous shaving most of the time so I wasn't suspecting the quality of the bit. I'll try a drill with more torque and see how much time I can shave from my three minutes.
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Todd
“Complications arose, ensued, were overcome...savvy?”
Having used all three I prefer the corded. If the bit is walking around the rivit head you may very well be dealing with stainless.I find that 1 or two stainless rivits and the bit is toast. I can usually drill out a rivit in under 15 seconds, any longer the bit is shot, and it is time to turn it around.
15 seconds! Maybe these were stainless. As I said they were the group of rivets tying the metal plate to the external skin directly around the 7 way connector. How do you identify a stainless steel rivet apart from a 3 minute drill-out?
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Todd
“Complications arose, ensued, were overcome...savvy?”
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