Hollow rivet flaring tool

T

Tinbasher

Joined
Jan 24, 2007
Messages
1,626
Hi,I made a tool for flaring the tubular rivets used on a lot of knives .I just open it enough to get the knife plus scales in then lay it in my vice ,as you close the vice it just slides in the slot.Worked well on a Busse I modded .All three parts are Aluminium angle.
Thank you for looking.
Richard

Kniferivettool.jpg
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Nice looking tool Tinbasher :thumbup:

I work closely with a forum member here, "Flatgrinder" We have collaborated on several projects, the most recent being a combat style fixed blade w/green G10 scales. The scales were held on with epoxy and flared rivets like you're describing. It was my first attempt at using this method and I must admit, they looked and worked great ! Flatgrinder turned some similar looking dies for me to harden, temper and use in the installation of the flared rivets. I took my vice jaws off of my large vice and drilled for the dies to slip into. The principle being very much like the tool you've made. Flatgrinder posted a most excellent tutorial quite a while back of which I followed precisely to mount the scales. It worked perfectly http://www.bladeforums.com:80/forums/showthread.php?t=471416

Here's a pic of the the flaring dies Flatgrinder turned, mounted in my vise.


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you should put the flaring dies on a pare of wide mouth vice grips.
 
Great ideas guys! The info is especially timely for me, as I am about to attempt to flare my first set of hollow rivets.
 
chris, good luck! just remember to practice on a piece of scrap first, tubing is cheap next to redoing a set of cracked scales.

also countersink and lube up the inside of the tubes. i don't know if it helps for sure, but it doesn't hurt.
 
Tinbasher said:
The trouble with vice grips is they don`t open with the jaws parallel to one another .
Richard
Click to expand...

That and the fact that you would need a "grip-o-steel" to flare the tubes. I had to use quite a bit of force on my first attempt at flaring the tubes. So much in fact, that I'm not sure I would feel comfortable using scales made of anything other than G10 or micarta.

Siguy's suggestion of using some type of lube is a hot tip. I used some heavy axle grease on the flaring dies and applied it several times during the flaring process. I gave a good turn on the vise handle, checked, turned a little more, checked again....... etc., until I had them where I thought they should be. Like I said earlier, Flatgrinders tutorial is very detailed and I followed it to the letter with perfect results. Make sure you have a nice countersink in your tube ID (like Siguy mentioned) for a good start to the flare and also make sure the tubes are centered in the scales.

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That looks great, David. I have a piece of green electrical g10 like that but haven't used it yet, it goes nicely with the stainless tubes.
 
I like the idea of using a vice to hold the flaring tool. I was thinking about doing the very same thing but for the rivets on Kydex sheaths.

I am from Spain so I need to bring anything I need for Kydex sheaths from the other side of the pond. Kydex is cheap. Rivets are cheap. The flaring dies are not that cheap but afordable any way. What is not afordable for me IN ANY WAY is the press knifekits sells to use with those dies. So I guess that getting a cheapo vice, drilling the jaws and fitting there the dies might be the way to go.

I have a few knives I just finished and the only thing that is keeping me off buying some kydex is the expense of getting setup. This might be the solution I was looking for!

Mikel
 
Mikel_24 said:
I like the idea of using a vice to hold the flaring tool. I was thinking about doing the very same thing but for the rivets on Kydex sheaths.

I am from Spain so I need to bring anything I need for Kydex sheaths from the other side of the pond. Kydex is cheap. Rivets are cheap. The flaring dies are not that cheap but afordable any way. What is not afordable for me IN ANY WAY is the press knifekits sells to use with those dies. So I guess that getting a cheapo vice, drilling the jaws and fitting there the dies might be the way to go.

I have a few knives I just finished and the only thing that is keeping me off buying some kydex is the expense of getting setup. This might be the solution I was looking for!

Mikel
Click to expand...

The hand held tools for the kydex rivets are very cheap and easy to use,I think I paid about AU$7.00 for mine.
Richard
 
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Tinbasher said:
The hand held tools for the kydex rivets are very cheap and easy to use,I think I payed about AU$7.00 for mine.
Richard
Click to expand...

Right after typing my previous post I went to knifekits.com and checked out the tools again. I noticed those hand held tools for flaring the rivets. They seem like a nice investment. I will probably order some kydex (boneyard), 1/4" rivets and the rivet tool and let you all know the outcome of that.

What do you use to heat up the kydex? A heat gun or a toaster oven?

Mikel
 
Mikel_24 said:
What do you use to heat up the kydex? A heat gun or a toaster oven?
Click to expand...
I use my home oven to get the kydex ready for my sheath press. Then, to adjust the mouth of the sheath I use a heat gun.

Make sure you get the correct size rivet dies for the rivets you are using.
 
Chris Meyer said:
I use my home oven to get the kydex ready for my sheath press. Then, to adjust the mouth of the sheath I use a heat gun.
Click to expand...
Homemade sheath press? I am by no means importing one of those things from the other side of the pond... I bet that with some basic tools and maybe a bit of help with the welding, I could craft one of those myself. Do you have any pictures? If you feel we are highjacking this threath you can send them to me by email or something.

Chris Meyer said:
Make sure you get the correct size rivet dies for the rivets you are using.
Click to expand...
You bet! I guess 1/4" is the way to go... that's the size for 99% of the sheaths I see out there, right?

Mikel
 
Mikel_24 said:
Right after typing my previous post I went to knifekits.com and checked out the tools again. I noticed those hand held tools for flaring the rivets. They seem like a nice investment. I will probably order some kydex (boneyard), 1/4" rivets and the rivet tool and let you all know the outcome of that.

What do you use to heat up the kydex? A heat gun or a toaster oven?

Mikel
Click to expand...
Hi,I use a heat gun and I have modified a bearing press to press the Kydex.
Richard
 
Mikel_24 said:
Homemade sheath press? I am by no means importing one of those things from the other side of the pond... I bet that with some basic tools and maybe a bit of help with the welding, I could craft one of those myself. Do you have any pictures? If you feel we are highjacking this threath you can send them to me by email or something.


You bet! I guess 1/4" is the way to go... that's the size for 99% of the sheaths I see out there, right?

Mikel
Click to expand...

I enjoy reading about other peoples ideas so no problem posting here.I use mostly 1/4" rivets as well,they take the Techlok screws.
Richard
 
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