Rivets for SCA

[Scott Landua]

So, I'm looking on putting together a starter kit. That said, I'm looking for a little bit above bottom level and planning to do a bit of it myself.

What are the best options for rivets for a COP or just for standard use? I've heard all aluminum roofing nails or copper slating/roofing nails with burrs. What does one use for the burrs on Al nails? What's a decent price / lb for these different ways of connecting things?

Thanks in advance for the input!

-Scott

[Galileo]

Small washers work

[losthelm]

What materials are you useing?
Its common to cut little bits of sheet metal to make your own burrs/washers.
Some materials can react with each other causeing things to wearout faster. So useing aluminum with steel plates is not a good idea.
between the leather aluminum and the steel things will wearout extra fast. you can help reduce this by hangin your armour after use and cleaning your Fight cloths when needed.

At one point the quick rivets from tandy where used a lot in SCA circles because they are quick and easy.

Unfortunatly many of the rivets tandy sells now are plated over steel and prone to rusting expecialy in humid enviroments. So if you go that rough take a small magnet to ensure you have the older style plated Brass quick rivets.
It's important to get the right lenth, to long and it will deform and not seat well, to short and it will fail unexpectedly.

Solid rivets can be cut to fit for things like Helms and articulation, you want a metal thats softer than the plates used so avoid Stainless rivets. For the most part rjleahy.com has very good prices if your ordering a lot, a few Ebay sellers have reasonable prices for small orders. Yes I sell rivets on Ebay....
Copper nails can be pricy but cheaper then copper or brass rivets.

As for aluminum burrs find some aluminum sheet and cut your own Drill or punch the holes first then cut loose the burr/washer.
Or use an appropriate sized washer, a box of 100 size 8 is about $4 at my local hardware. Its more expencive up front but saves me time in the shop.

[hrolf]

pop rivets are the devil.

mcmaster and others stock copper solid rivets; when making a COP there's no reason to use iron/steel rivets and plenty of reasons not to.

[Scott Landua]

Good input all around. I'm just trying to find the least expensive way to get some solid rivets with less than a complete tool shop.

@ losthelm -- maybe I need to open my eyes more b/c I haven't seen like straight Al or straight anything but stainless washers at the hardware store.

[Aelric]

The best burs for using on the Al roofing/siding nails are pop rivet washers. You can get them in the tool section near the pop rivet guns. The hole is much tighter than the No.8 washer. You can get them in steel and Al.

Aelric

[Scott Martin]

For a COP, use roofing nails. You don't need washers because you will pean the rivet on the "plate" side - your plates are really big washers. Yes, these will rust, and given enough time (a decade or so) it will be a concern, but your fabric "shell" is likely to wear out first.

For rivets try rjleahy (rjleahy.com) - they also sell roofing / slating nails if you really want them. If you are using 1/8" rivets and need washers then I would suggest Brass #5-s washers (.280”od X.133”id X.024”) which were $1.25 per 100, or stainless steel #5 washers (.438”od X.140”id X.046”) which were $1.75 per 100 at RJ Leahy - they carry them, but they aren't on the website. For 3/16" washers you want #7's - these fit *tightly* and are awesome for slotting articulations.

Scott Martin

[wcallen]

Different answers for different uses.

I personally buy actual rivets and use them.
I make my own washers, they fit better that way and they look cuter with all of the little corners cut off.

For securing leather, roofing nails work fine. I use them or drywall nails when I put leathers on the inside of things. That way I don't have to see the heads.

People use common nails too - there is a lot of waste, and the heads are boring, but they look like flat head rivets.

You can even make your own rivets out of rod. Or the cut off pieces of the nails where you used the head.

A lot of what you use depends more on the look you want than anything else. And how easily you can order them, how much money you have, etc.

Many 14th c. armours that may possibly have original rivets appear to have very, very small heads on the outside. I bet you could make that easily with a few whacks on the end of a piece of the right sized rod.

Just buying them is easier.

1/8" diameter shank is a good size for lots of things.

Wade

[EnderPC]

Hey there,
Put together my first kit last year using Tandy quick rivets. I use these because I knew I would need a crap load because I wanted to use a three rivet pattern and it would have take a lot longer using solid rivets. The coat is a soft leather shell with hardened leather for most of the plates and some steel thrown in over the spine and sternum. I haven't had any problems with the quick rivets mainly I think because there are three at each point of stress.

[Tostig]

What do folks do about the seam on the underside of mails? I'm guessing that metal on metal it doesn't matter. Where it goes through fabric (I know use an awl to spread the fibers) that the seam, which is usually rough, under the nail head would tear up the fabric. Do people file or sandpaper the nails, use a leather washer, etc?

[Konstantin the Red]

Inspect for that flashing, file it off when discovered. It'll tear up your fabric. They don't bother keeping the flash off the nail for roofing because shingles aren't cloth and don't try to move around.

Sometimes you can flatten the flashing, with the use of an appropriate tool like heavy-walled pipe. This approach is worth it if it's faster than filing the flash off. A small power tool can make that flashing vanish in the twinkling of an eye.

[Bender]

I use nails by pickling them in vinegar if galvy-then heating them up red hot and covering them in hot sand.