Private message quoted with permission:
Originally Posted by Tandem Tom
Saw your post and wondering if you might show the tools you used to set the rivets? Also are they're brass? I thought that the big ones were copper.
Copper would be nice! But I haven't found a source for big semi-hollow copper rivets. If you want to do copper, you'll want to get 'belt rivets' the kind sold with burrs (washers) though you won't use the burrs. It's hard to find them in a big enough size.
Originally Posted by
wschruba
[MENTION=73614]rhm[/MENTION] Rudy, what machine do you use for setting the rivets?
That's the rivet press I use, shown here with the very same saddle as in the first post. To use a press like this, you have to put the right dies in; a flush die for the head, and a die with the specific shape for a semi-hollow rivet.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rivet-Squee...MAAOSw1ZBUyPx5
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rivet-Squee...item414f7dc9ff
I have a third die that I ground to a slightly concave shape, which I use to give the cantle plate rivets a slightly convex shape (which I think you can see in the photos above). You can do all this with a hammer and punch... but it's easier to do a tidy job with a press.
The rivets on these saddles are brass semi-hollow rivets of the kind usually sold for brake and clutch repairs. I get them from this company:
https://rivetsinstock.com/rivets/bra...ch-rivets.html
The rivets I used on these are the size BR 8-6. BR for brass, 8 for the size (3/16" shank, 15/32" head), 6 for the length (6/16, AKA 3/8").
edit 'cuz it's not every day I get to answer a question before the post asking it
