Archived Posts » 59,789,155
Un-screwing a screw build gone wrong
1/6/2012 7:11:50 AM
I'm helping a friend with a Romy G kit that was given to him. The previous owner tried to cob together a screw gun with little success. I'm hoping that I can save the trunions, especially since the front trunion wasn't properly demilled before it was drilled and tapped for screws.
Does anyone make oversize rivets if I have to drill larger rivet holes in the front trunion?
Does anyone make oversize rivets if I have to drill larger rivet holes in the front trunion?
1/6/2012 6:07:31 PM
I imagine you can find steel 3/16ths American rivets from McMaster Carr. Here is their rivet page Mcmaster carr rivets
1/7/2012 2:13:37 PM
I've made plenty of custom rivets from those McMaster 3/16 rivets. I'm not volunteering to make more, cause it's kind of a pain in the ass 
If you just use the rivet head they come with, I guess it wouldn't be so bad, but in order to have a rivet head that works with AKbuilder tooling, and also to have a proper swell-neck rivet, some work is needed on the rivet heads.
If you have a mill, it's not incredibly hard to do. But you will need a set of index-able lathe tooling, I've got one of the cheap 5 piece sets.
The first order of business is to reduce the OD of the rivet head. I usually just chuck the rivet in a drill chuck upside down. With just a little of the rivet shaft hanging out, it's rigid enough to make some light passes. Just clamp a lathe tool in a mill vice, and you've got a small scale lathe!
Once you have the rivet head the same OD as the AKbuilder long rivets, it's time to cut an approximate 45 degree cut on the underside of the rivet. I clamp the appropriate lathe tool in the vice, loosen the rivet in the drill chuck and slide it out so about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of shaft is out.
Then I ease the tool up to the point where it almost touches the rivet shaft, turn on the mill and cut the rivet head by slowly raising the spindle.
This is a set I made for a Chinese side-folder clone. I made that center support from the 3/16th rivets too. I needed a longer center support, because I was installing one of Tantal's 2 piece receiver rails, and I wanted as much rigidity as I could get out of the setup. BTW, making the center support is the part that is a royal pita! You only have enough rigidity to turn the OD of the shaft down about 1/2 - 3/4" at the time, so many steps are needed moving the rivet in the drill chuck.
I can't tell you how many of these I screwed up! Fortunately, you won't need any of these, I'm just posting this to show people what's possible.
After you're done with the machining, it's time to clean up the heads. I did this by chucking the rivets into a hand drill, spinning them and polishing the heads with a dremmel style tool.
There you have it! All you never knew you wanted to know about making custom AK rivets
If you just use the rivet head they come with, I guess it wouldn't be so bad, but in order to have a rivet head that works with AKbuilder tooling, and also to have a proper swell-neck rivet, some work is needed on the rivet heads.
If you have a mill, it's not incredibly hard to do. But you will need a set of index-able lathe tooling, I've got one of the cheap 5 piece sets.
The first order of business is to reduce the OD of the rivet head. I usually just chuck the rivet in a drill chuck upside down. With just a little of the rivet shaft hanging out, it's rigid enough to make some light passes. Just clamp a lathe tool in a mill vice, and you've got a small scale lathe!
Once you have the rivet head the same OD as the AKbuilder long rivets, it's time to cut an approximate 45 degree cut on the underside of the rivet. I clamp the appropriate lathe tool in the vice, loosen the rivet in the drill chuck and slide it out so about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of shaft is out.
Then I ease the tool up to the point where it almost touches the rivet shaft, turn on the mill and cut the rivet head by slowly raising the spindle.
This is a set I made for a Chinese side-folder clone. I made that center support from the 3/16th rivets too. I needed a longer center support, because I was installing one of Tantal's 2 piece receiver rails, and I wanted as much rigidity as I could get out of the setup. BTW, making the center support is the part that is a royal pita! You only have enough rigidity to turn the OD of the shaft down about 1/2 - 3/4" at the time, so many steps are needed moving the rivet in the drill chuck.
I can't tell you how many of these I screwed up! Fortunately, you won't need any of these, I'm just posting this to show people what's possible.
After you're done with the machining, it's time to clean up the heads. I did this by chucking the rivets into a hand drill, spinning them and polishing the heads with a dremmel style tool.
There you have it! All you never knew you wanted to know about making custom AK rivets
1/7/2012 3:25:51 PM
Originally Posted By iamg0ku:
There you have it! All you never knew you wanted to know about making custom AK rivets
There you have it! All you never knew you wanted to know about making custom AK rivets
Wow... just.. wow. That is awesome.
1/7/2012 10:44:29 PM
Originally Posted By icrpdmeself:
Wow... just.. wow. That is awesome.
Originally Posted By iamg0ku:
There you have it! All you never knew you wanted to know about making custom AK rivets
There you have it! All you never knew you wanted to know about making custom AK rivets
Wow... just.. wow. That is awesome.
Thanks
1/8/2012 12:44:15 AM
Originally Posted By icrpdmeself:
Wow... just.. wow. That is awesome.
Originally Posted By iamg0ku:
There you have it! All you never knew you wanted to know about making custom AK rivets
There you have it! All you never knew you wanted to know about making custom AK rivets
Wow... just.. wow. That is awesome.
Yeah, that is really impressive. Thanks for sharing!
1/8/2012 1:03:27 AM
Is there really not a "rivets.com" type operation that can supply the world with the various rivets required to build AK's?
1/11/2012 12:40:15 PM
Very nice job on the rivets.
