Riveting Steel - Ironworking in the Early Days

A short demonstration at BCIT's open house on riveting together steel together. It was a main type of connection for steel structures until the invention and adoption of the bolt. A lot of bridges you see, are still riveted together. Next time you are about, take a look around you.

The process begins heating up the pin. After the pin was cherry hot, they would literally through the red hot pin to another Ironworker whom would then place the pin a the hole and another two Ironworkers would then come behind (all will still cherry red) and use pneumatic hammers to form the "head' of the rivet. As the pin cooled, the steel shrinks, compressing the joint, thus holding it together.

[justink]

Nice job. I'm with the Boilermakers Lodge 92 and am glad to see the old process lives on.

[irondiver]

Perfect example of youth versus experience...Old timer on right, relaxed letting the ‘dog do the work... kid on left going to stroke out trying to push the rivet flat... Nice vid.

[brianblithe]

How did they make the 2 million holes for the rivets back then ???

[goldinga]

Wtf were those guys doing when building the empire state building. Swear they put in those circular smooth rivets into the steel beams with a device that looked like a rivet gun. But by themselves....am I mistaken and that's was a rivet checker or something?

[michaelkirk]

My Dad started as a Riveter in Rosyth Naval Dockyard, he eventually became an ICRDB(Iron Caulker, Riveter, Driller and Burner)