How To Attach Copper Rivets

You can be sure that copper rivets will increase your leather products’ exclusivity and uniqueness. If you want to learn how to use them too, watch our new video and learn in 7 minutes:

0:23 – how to choose the right size of rivets,
1:56 – how to rivet and what tools to use for riveting,
5:28 – some useful tips.

Dear ladies and gentlemen, welcome to today’s video in which we’re going to tell you all about these copper rivets.

We’ll take a look at how to work with them, and how to rivet them properly, and we’ll finish with some tips and tricks.

So let’s get right into the video.

As far as rivet size is concerned, you will be dealing with two basic dimensions.

The first is the width of the mandrel and the second is the length of the mandrel.

The length depends on the number of layers of leather you will be joining.

And the width – how strong you want the rivet to be, or how stressed the joint will be.

Let’s take a look at how to choose the correct length of the mandrel

Here is an enlarged drawing of the rivet.

I will draw the leather at the bottom of the rivet.

As you can see, the top of the rivet is tapering.

To select the correct rivet length, you need a distance of at least 5 mm between the beginning of the taper and the top layer of leather.

Because we need to knock down the pad that goes into this part.

Here friction is created because the diameter of the inner hole of the pad is slightly smaller than the diameter of the mandrel.

So the pad shrinks here and we need to leave some more material to rivet in.

At this point, you can see a properly long rivet mandrel.

And here you see the wrong length of the mandrel.

Let’s take a look at the riveting itself

I’ve got the rivet holes ready here.

As for the size of the rivet hole, it should be approximately the same size as the diameter of the mandrel.

Riveting is done with this header tool.

It can be divided into two parts. The first is a hole for proper seating of the pad and the second is a recess that serves for the riveting itself.

From milling recess, it sometimes remains in the tool. It is then a good idea to smooth them with sandpaper or a handheld milling machine.

Let’s jump into the riveting itself.

We have a rivet with a pad ready here and we’re going to put a header tool on it.

The goal now is not to settle the pad with one shot, but with several smaller shots to avoid damaging the pad.

We want to place it smoothly on the leather. We don’t want to put a dent in it, but at the same time, we don’t want there to be any space left.

We’ve got too much of that mandrel left, so we’re gonna chip it off.

We want to leave 3 to 4 mm above the pad.

I prefer to pinch it twice.

I pinch it by first pinching with pliers to half of the thickness of the mandrel, then I turn it 90° and pinch it off.

I like this solution because in practice I have found that this creates a good starting point for the riveting itself.

The pinching it twice here on all four sides creates a level that I can form down with the hammer slightly.

Now, I will use a few small shots of the header tool together with a circular motion to create the actual riveting.

And we’re done! We could leave it that way. It is a good idea to check the rivet with your finger to see if there is no sharp edge that could tear or damage something.

I will now show you two ways how the rivet head can be processed.

The suitability of the rivet head design differs among the products.

So let’s take this as some kind of a model variant.

The number two option might be a rustic rivet head design that you create with a round-headed hammer.

This means that you tap the rivet head in this way to get a slightly different look.

Or you can choose option number three and after cutting the rivet skip using the header tool, but use a flat head hammer directly to split the rivet.

These are the three options for finishing the copper rivet.

You can use both the split side of the rivet and the other side with a smooth head.

Finally, a few tips for working with copper rivets

For example, it’s good to have some kind of paper or other material that will reliably protect the pad PLUS will mark the correct length of the rivet to be cut when you put it on the rivet mandrel.

Another hack can be used if you are riveting weaker materials such as leather or fabric.

In this case, it’s a good idea to make a pad of some thicker leather to put on the rivet before the copper pad.

And only then do we put on the copper washer.

And my last tip concerns the appearance of the rivet head.

You can polish it off. Every product calls for a slightly different design, so you might find this one suitable.

This means you can just take it to an AKU drill or manually sand it with sandpaper.

I polished one here and the original here.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are coming to the end of this video.

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If you still have any inquiries or questions, just write them down in the comments below.

That’s all from me for now. Thank you for your time, have a nice day and I will look forward to seeing you at the next video.