Getting Attached: A Rivet Making Intensive

Learn one of the most versatile and strong connection methods and leave that glue in your drawer! Whatever the materials used, hand-made rivets can often be employed to strengthen and enhance your assemblage work or jewelry. Recommended for the Precious Little students and for anyone interested in attaching objects securely. Get it together and keep it together...

REQUIRED TOOLS:

The tools below are things you will be using in the workshop, and to avoid having to wait for a communal tool to become available, you should plan on getting them for the class:

• small Vise-Grip plier <Here> You'll want the 4WR or the 5WR. This is crucial to bring, as you'll use it to hold the wire while making the rivet.

• small bench vise <here> This would be used INSTEAD of the vise-grip listed above. If you can find this vise, it will be better and more versatile than the pliers above. NOTE FOR BRISBANE 2013 STUDENTS - I have ordered three of these sent to the class, so you can share if you need to!

• steel bench block - Go here and choose the 'Generic Steel block: Indian made / Recycled steel / 60x40x25mm'

• A small ball-pein hammer - go here and choose 'Generic BALL-PEIN Hammer: Indian made / Face: 15mm diam'

• Cordless hand drill - If you have a variable-speed hand drill already, you won't need a cordless, but if you don't own a power drill yet, this is a good example. And while I'm at it, I might as well show you the BEST, smallest cordless hand drill on the Australian market. So if money is no object (over $250, and can be found at many Bunnings stores), try the AEG drill here. It'll be one of your most well-used and loved tools. Can you tell I love my new drill?

• 're-bar tie wire' (found for under $10 in hardware stores in the construction materials section, near the cinder block and chain-link fencing. IMPORTANT: make sure it is steel or iron wire, NOT galvanized!...it should be dark grey-black) If met with blank stares, tell them it's for tying reo-rod together. NOTE: You won't need to haul the whole roll, as it's quite heavy - bring a few metres of it with you and you'll have plenty!

• drill bits (any standard hardware-store 'high-speed steel drill bit' set)

• Two extra 1/16" drill bits

• Bar clamps <Here> 450mm is shown. You may be able to find them cheaper - Bunnings and Mitre 10 stores will carry them. The little 150mm one is handy as well for small projects. Get one of each if you can find them at a good price, you'll use them all the time.

• Memory wire cutters (this makes cutting the re-bar wire a cinch): <Here>

• jewellery pliers: a round-nose and a flat-nose (if you don't have any jewellery pliers, here's an inexpensive well-made set of four.

• flush-cutting pliers - a super-cheap usable one can be found here.

• Bar clamps <Here> 450mm is shown. You may be able to find them cheaper - Bunnings and Mitre 10 stores will carry them. The little 150mm one is handy as well for small projects. Get one of each if you can find them at a good price, you'll use them all the time.

• pack of Blu-Tack from an office-supply store

• Piece of scrap wood to drill into

• 1 or 2 bar clamps (an excellent bar clamp called 'Quik-Grip' can be found at Home Depot...get the smallest ones available)

• spring-loaded, or 'automatic' centre punch - a cheap-as-chips one can be had here.

• A handful of metal things to rivet together.....anything from large coins to sheet metal will do. Grab a bunch of found objects and you're bound to have rivet-able stuff. An assortment of sheet and strip metals can be had here.

Please email me with any questions you might have that this page didn't address.

See you there! Keith