As usual, the how and the why. Excellent stuff. Never measured, just eyeballed: probably why I occasionally have one get squirrelly on me and wind up cutting/drilling it out. Then going shorter.
I ordered two pounds of blacksmith rivets several years ago and they sent me brass ones. I didn't make the project anyway so they're still in my garage.
I have used mass produced rivits in the past and found that they have no carictor to them a hand maid peas tells about the maker. It is very true that finding a provider that is close in most states is very hard.
Easy enough to resize an oversize drill bit for a custom size. I set up the drill in a vise, insert the drill bit and use a flat plate diamond stone a bit like a file to grind down the drill to the correct diameter while it is revolving at slow speed. True, It's a bit rough and ready, but quickly gets you in the right ball park Make it so the required diameter is achieved at the tip and grind a little more clearance off behind this for about an inch, to prevent the drill snagging as you drill through the workpiece. . Mark up the new diameter on the drill, then store it with the nails they are designed to be used with..
Several years ago, in my misinformed youth I used an electric grind stone to sharpen a couple of axes. In doing so, I took the temper out of the corner of one of the axes and turned it blue. Do you know if this can be reversed? Please keep up the great videos. Michael Bradley
Tempering can't be reversed but on an axe you may be in luck because most of them are tempered quite soft anyway ( around a purple to blue color ) so that part of the axe will probably be only a little softer than the rest of the blade. The only part that will be affected is the actual area that turned blue so if that is only at short section of the edge it would be better to just leave it because you will soon be removing that damaged section the next time you sharpen it. Unless the damage is extensive it wouldn't be worth rehardening and tempering.
Plain bar stock that has never been stresses by cold hammering or bending is soft enough to form into a rivet. If you have forged a tenon on the end of a bar it is a good idea to anneal it before riveting.
Thanks for this helpful and informative video. For the flush rivets, what if you used a countersink instead of a counterbore? I would expect that the tapered sides would fill more naturally than the square sides.
With a counterbore the sides of the rivet head are pushing against the walls of the counterbore making a very tight seam. This is what allows you to file the rivet head flush with the surface to make it invisible. The edges of a rivet head in a counterbore are paper thin and sitting on the surface. These outside edges break away very easily because there is no mechanical bond with the surface.
I do use a rivet header if I am concerned about getting the maximum holding power out of the rivet or I'm working on a piece that would have originally used rivets of a specific shape. I mainly do decorative work so that is rarely an issue and I prefer the look of a hand hammered rivet. I hot rivet mainly when the riveting is part of the forging process and it is just easier to rivet hot than to cool the work and then rivet. Making tongs for example.
