Rivet Brass?

WillbertR

WillbertR

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I’ve been thinking it would be nice to build my own custom Victorinox knife but I’ve hit a roadblock.

I bought some Brass Rod in 2.5mm and 2.2mm and made a tool to make some Rivets. It turns out that the Brass I bought is likely grade CZ121 which is a bit too hard to produce Rivets successfully. Apparently Brass Rivets are normally made from a softer CZ131 grade. I can get it over here but only in 3/16”.
I’m just wondering what custom knife makers are using, particularly for SAK’s?

I have seen some small bits of brass offered for things like SAK’s but this could be any old brass, the grade isn’t mentioned.
I have also seen fully formed SAK Rivets but the cost plus postage is quite prohibitive.

Anyone got any suggestions?
 
Anneal the brass by heating it to red and letting it cool..
Hard brass rivets well. Annealed brass pins may bend instead of flaring at the heads.
What kind of tool did you make for making rivets?
Here is a badly made video of riveting that I made some years ago. Somehow, it became controversial.
 
Thanks for the Video. There are two schools of thought for annealing brass. Heat to red and let it cool naturally, and heat to red and quench in water (as you do to anneal copper) I tried both methods and it made no difference, the material was still too brittle.
The tool I made is just two blocks of steel with a hole drilled between them. It clamps the brass so you can make either a countersunk rivet or a domed one (with a suitable punch) which I also made.
 
When annealing brass, it doesn't matter how you cool it.
Whatever brass you have should be fine for rivets. We make rivets out of steel, and it's much harder than brass.
 
The stuff I have cracks too readily. Having begged the question online, the general consensus is that a grade with good ductility is needed for cold forming. CZ131 fits the bill perfectly but is not commonly available in small quantities at the size I need.


IMG_5988.jpeg
 
Looking online, by far the most common type of Brass available over here in Rod form is CZ121, and looking at its properties confirms it’s not really suitable for making Rivets. This is quite likely the stuff I’ve been supplied.

IMG_5992.jpeg
 
There is tons of brass rod, wire, and pin stock available on Ebay.
K&S brand is very good.
 
It may be that you are trying to make a rivethead to large and that is what is giving you problems.
You only need a very small bit of material sticking out and that should form a good peened head.
Even annealed stainless should work
 
Hengelo_77 said:
It may be that you are trying to make a rivethead to large and that is what is giving you problems.
You only need a very small bit of material sticking out and that should form a good peened head.
Even annealed stainless should work
Click to expand...

As it’s for use on a Victorinox knife I’ve been trying to replicate the rivets they use. I wouldn’t say the profiles are particularly large.

Looking at an existing Victorinox with intact rivets, it’s clear that the material must be relatively ductile as they appear to be pressed to close them on one side? I’ve seen a video where you can build your own SAK at their facility, and customers are provided with a hammer to close the rivets. There’s no evidence of hammer marks though on production knives. It could be one single impact I suppose.
 
Try low fuming bronze from the welding supply, it’s more yellow in color very similar to brass. Otherwise, look for 70/30 brass pin stock.

Hoss
 
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