I will try to tell something about an old traditional maritime skill; riveting. Nowadays probably only used on old classic vessels or air-planes. Craftwork like hammersmith a railing is also possible. Years ago Jan made a beautiful foot for a mast on a nice classic vessel. Some piece of art, if i may say…You need more persons to help you with the bloody hot metal pins, and to strike the pins hard and properly into the hole. Thankful Jan is treating Daisy more nicely …
Riveting is a fixing technique whereby metal parts are fixed to each other using metal pins known as rivets. Between 1875, when there was a major increase in building ships using iron, and 1950 all metal ship structures were riveted; from 1950 onwards riveting was almost replaced entirely by welding. Due to the use of riveting in a number of famous historic ship restorations the interest in riveting is starting to increase, also amongst private ship owners.
Materials and tools
In addition to the metal parts that have to be fixed together, you will need the following tools for riveting: a furnace for heating the rivets, a punch and a drill for making holes in metal, a cutting and bending tool for making the metal parts into the required size and shape, a riveting hammer and, dollies in various shapes and sizes and tongs for holding the hot rivets.
Riveting is hard work, that was previously undertaken using hand tools. These days pneumatically and electrically-operated tools are used in addition to the hand tools. Wear heavy-duty gloves, a face mask and hearing protectors. If want more information about traditional maritime skills, check this website.
