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Best Ways to Remove Rivets - 3 Ways to Remove Rivets

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Which do you think is the best way to remove rivets? Actually, it depends on the situation. This article shows you the three most effective ways to remove a blind rivet.

What Are Blind Rivets?

A blind rivet is a riveted fastener that joins two or more pieces of sheet material. Its convenience can be a good substitute for screws and welding. Blind rivets can do the job of screws and welding.

Blind rivets have rivet and rivet body components. The rivet body is squeezed by using a special rivet installation tool to complete the tight connection.

Why Remove Blind Rivets?

Blind rivets are considered permanent connections and have no way of being reused. If you want to remove it, you have to destroy the structure of the rivet. So why do engineers sometimes spend so much time trying to remove it?

Actually the reason cannot be separated from the points of repairing, replacing parts or making structural modifications. In the actual production process, the blind rivet will be removed if the following situations are encountered.

Damaged parts, need to repair or replace.
Structural modification or upgrade, may need to remove the existing blind rivets.
Aging or corrosion of the material being joined, replace with new blind rivets.
Installation errors or defects
Equipment or structure scrapping, dismantling or recycling of various parts of the material

3 Ways to Remove Blind Rivets

If you are experiencing any of these situations, you must remove the pultruded rivets. Then you can use the following three methods to perform the removal of the blind rivets.

1.Drill it Out

You can use a power drill or an appropriately sized drill bit for removal. Of course, you can also use a hand drill for rivet destruction. However, this method is not as clean as using a rivet removal tool to remove them. Also, using a drill to remove rivets may result in damage to the material and deformation of the hole.

Some types of rivets may prevent the drill from working properly. For example, dome head blind rivets are difficult to remove with a drill. This is because there is no way to centre the drill on the dome head blind rivets.

2.Use a Grinder

In addition to using a drill, you can use a grinding machine to cut off the discarded rivets. This method of cutting is usually quick. For example, if you want to dispose of certain damaged items and intend not to use the parts anymore, this method will work well. The downside, however, is that using a grinding machine to remove the blind rivets can damage the surface of the material workpiece.

3. Remove It Manually

If you are a DIY enthusiast, removing failed pultruded rivets relative to your own equipment and there are very few of these pultruded rivets. Then you can use tools like hammer and chisel. The method is the same as grinding machines, but you need to do this manually.

This method of removing blind rivets is very time consuming and cumbersome. If you need to remove multiple similar failed rivets, a rivet removal tool is more appropriate.

Best Ways to Remove Rivets

So what’s the best way to remove a blind rivet? You need to consider several factors to choose the most suitable way to remove rivets.

1. Rivet Sizes and Materials

If your project uses conventional blind rivets, such as open end blind rivets, closed end blind rivets. Then you can use manual removal or electric drill to remove the blind rivets. These two ways of removing rivets can do the job well.

But for some high-strength structural blind rivets and large size blind rivets, if you use the above two ways to remove may not work well. At this time, you need to choose a more effective way to remove rivets or more powerful tools. For example, use a special rivet removal tool or a powerful grinding machine.

2. Avoid Affecting Surrounding Materials

If you are going to continue to use the equipment from which you are removing the blind rivets, then avoid damaging the surrounding materials. You need to choose a more precise removal method. For example, manual removal using a chisel or removing blind rivets with an electric drill.

3. Tool Availability

Of course, when you want to remove the blind rivets. Prioritise what tools you have around. If you don’t have a drill around, then you can only use chisels and hammers to remove the blind rivets as well.

4. Operating Environment

The exact type of demolition that is best will also need to be considered in the context of the site’s operating environment. If the demolition environment is very small and not suitable for the use of grinding machines or manual demolition, then only electric drills can be used. If there is no power supply at the site, manual demolition is the only option.

Conclusion

For the most part, the drill removal method is the best method for removing blind rivets because it is efficient and widely available. For small rivets or where field operations are limited, the rivet spade removal method can be used. For specialised occasions where high precision and reduced material damage is required, specialised rivet removal tools are the best choice. The choice of a specific method should be based on the type and size of the rivet, the surrounding material and the tools available.

Rivmate can Provide you with Expert Rivet Advice!

Does your project require new high quality blind rivets? Are you not sure which type of blind rivets you should use for your project? Don’t worry, at Rivmate, all of this is taken care of.

Rivmate can provide specialised riveting solutions tailored to your project or business. Contact our engineering today for a rivet quote.