Rivets

[Hans Vermeule]

I,m building a catspaw dinghy,and have a small problem.In the fastenings list it says to use *13
rivets for the planking.But what is the size in millimeters ,since I life in Holland and the shops only know sizes in millimeters.And should the rivets have a rounded or a flat head.
Thanks very much for your answer.

[Mrleft8]

Hans, I'm building a Cat's paw also. The rivets are about 3/32" whatever that converts to in metrics. They should be flat head. (actually, they are copper nails with a "rove" or washer peened over)

[Venchka]

I posted a nice chart in Products yesterday. It lists gauge, inches and milimeters.

Copper nail size chart (http://media5.hypernet.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=002023)

13 guage / 3/32" / 2.36mm

[ 10-28-2003, 08:59 AM: Message edited by: Venchka ]

[Bruce Hooke]

According to the Jamestown Distributors catalog (a major supplier of wooden boat building supplies here in the US) a number 13 nail (such as would be used for a rivet) is about 3/32" diameter, which is about 2.5 mm

[Jack Heinlen]

Just a comment on peening. You want a light ballpeen hammer, and you want to use a lot of light strokes. Hammering too hard, especially with a small diameter rivet, will bend it rather than drawing the rove tight. Later the joint will open. Think tapping rather than hammering.

You also want to leave the right amount when you snip off the end before peening. About the diameter of the rivet is a good rule of thumb. Don't get obsessive about it, but try to stay around that.