Pop rivets staying on bit during removal

[bennyg]

does anyone have a tip for removing pop rivets? i am removing a lot of the interior rivets and i wind up with rivet heads on 1/8" drill bit and i have to stop and remove all the heads off drill bit before i can start again. Thanks

[wasagachris]

Yeah Benny they'll do that. Use A pair of pliers to grab the rivet heads and put the drill in reverse to easily remove them.

[markdoane]

I like to see how many I can cram on a single bit. I think my record was 19.

[bennyg]

Thanks guys

[wasagachris]

Markdoane you could use a 2ft long bit and try for the Guiness Book of Records. However you would also hold the record for the most holes in an Airstream. LMAO

[gwchitty]

Yup. Keep the pliers handy. It's tough on bare fingers. Look at the bright side, at least you don't get carpul tunnel injury until you put all those rivets back in again with a hand rivet tool.

Cosmos

[Splitrock]

I use a claw hammer. I stick the bit in the claw and reverse drill. Fast!

[Lumatic]

grandkids

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by cosmos

Yup. Keep the pliers handy. It's tough on bare fingers. Look at the bright side, at least you don't get carpul tunnel injury until you put all those rivets back in again with a hand rivet tool.

Cosmos

That is why they invented power rivet guns

Aaron

[68 TWind]

wahoonc is right, when you get ready to put things back together the air rivet gun from Harbor Freight a must have. Installation will go 4 or 5 times faster and you won't be taking ibuprofen because your hands ache at night.

[markdoane]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

That is why they invented power rivet guns

Aaron

Ditto. One of the best purchases I made.
It's just so much easier to hold things in position and pull the trigger.

[samb]

Wobble the drill a bit when you first start to drill out the rivet. The heads then come off the bit much easier.
Sam

[Melody Ranch]

I use a sharp putty knife. One sharp tap and the rivet head is gone. No marks or mars.

[Splitrock]

I tried cutting the heads off with a hammer and chisel and that did work good . . . but the chisel method required two hands and using that method involved me removing the hand previously used to hold up my pants. During the initial test of the rivet chisel method, my pants fell down.

I found the only way to proceed with the chisel was to solicit the help of another person to hold up my pants while I held the hammer to the chisel. We were filming a documentary at the time and due to an unfortunate camera angle, it looked like we were doing something else. After some time of reflection, I returned to drilling off the heads.

[truckasaurus]

If you can drill just into the head then with the drill not spinning give it a flick to the side the head will pop off and be just on the drill tip not down the shank.