Kydex Rivets

J.McDonald Knives

J.McDonald Knives

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Jan 28, 2007
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is it possible to press the rivets without having to buy a press? if so how can it be done? i was thinking about taking a couple of ball peen hammers and placing the ball of the hammer onto the rivet and then smacking the hammer with another hammer and them smashing it flatter. if this wont work what should i do?
 
We used to call them cherry rivots, I believe they are the same as pop rivots. You can by an inexpensive "popper" It's like a pair of pliers.. $10 at most.

Sorry for the uber technical terminology :)

-Coop
 
i was just looking over the description of the press i was talking about and it says its spreads the eyelets out. i thought they were rivets but they are eyelets. also does anyone know where i can get shorter chicago screws? or should i just use the eyelets that come with the belt loops?
 
jsut get the eyelet dies and use a hammer tappign them together thats all i do but make sure youput the die in the right end of the eyelet(it dont flare worth spit when its backwards)
 
actually i found them on Jantz. got the eyelet setter and the anvil for it. ill check out knifekits later on. ive just about spent all of my tax return and paycheck within the last few days on knife making supplies, car parts, and a little food and a trip to the bar ($30 total at bar). :D HEHEHE!!! :thumbup: still need a couple of things from darren so i can finish my manifold so i can get back to heat treating. i only have one hose and i need a second one and a couple more quick disconnects.
 
I bought a 1/2 ton arbor press from Harbor Freight. Drilled a hole in the ram to hold one die , tapped a 6-32 hole for a set screw , drilled a hole in the bottom plate to hold the other die.
HF has the 1/2 ton on sale often for $15.00

before that I would chuck one die in the drill press and the other was held in a block of steel with a hole drilled in it.
 
Take a look on Tandy Leather's site. They have rivets that will work nicely. They are quite easy to put together using the little setter they sell (cheap too). Tandy has some chicago screws bet they're shortest ones are still a bit too long. I have trimmed them down using a belt sander but there is only so much you can do. If you look up Graham Brothers knives they use the press together rivets that Tandy sells. www.grahamknives.com

Hope that helps.

As for the eyelets, I've set them with limited success using a large center punch and a ball peen hammer. Use the large center punch (has a fairly sharp taper to it) to start them over, then use the hammer to finish them. I've never been able to get them rounded on that side so I use them for one sided applications. The side that's already rounded looks just fine. I have a small synthetic cutting board that I set the good side against.

Hope that helps.

Charles
 
Yeah Jacob, take John Wylie's advice and check out HF and do the mod to the press. It is the exact same thing that some are selling for ~ $50-$100 for doing kydex. In the mean time the hot tip about using the drill press sounds like a winner to me :thumbup: To get a good flare I've found that a slooow even push on the press lever is what it takes. I take a countersink to the rivet prior to flaring too, the flare starts out better for me like that. A hammer & punch is "ok" until something better comes along. BTW, I always buy the long rivets and sand to length for the thickness of kydex I'm working with (sometimes 2 layers, sometimes 3-4 layers for a belt loop or piggyback style)
 
I did the same thing John T did, ie. bought a cheap arbor press and modified it to fit the dies that I got from knifekits.com.

Before that I was using an eyelet setter and anvil. Now this is just my experience and there may be a good chance that I was doing something wrong, no I never do that! I found that I was scrapping some of the black coating off of the eyelets when hammering them in place with the eyelet setter.

Once I moved to the arbor and proper setting dies things went much better.

Sean
 
thanks guys. ill have to see how much money i have left after i order from darren. only need a hose and ball valve but i also have to go by lowes and pick up some quick disconnects.
 
John T Wylie Jr said:
I bought a 1/2 ton arbor press from Harbor Freight. Drilled a hole in the ram to hold one die , tapped a 6-32 hole for a set screw , drilled a hole in the bottom plate to hold the other die.
HF has the 1/2 ton on sale often for $15.00

before that I would chuck one die in the drill press and the other was held in a block of steel with a hole drilled in it.
Click to expand...

I did the same mod to a press only cost 15.00 bones and small amount of time.

spencer
 
I just went to this craft stoor by my house named Michaels looking for the same thing. In the fabric isle I found a eyelet tool for $1.60 that works perfectly.
 
ive already got the 1/4" one on order but if i do anything smaller ill goto hobby lobby or something. thanks for the info. i hadnt thought about that.
 
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