One-Image WIP -- The Kydex Rivet Press

Erin Burke

Erin Burke

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure whether this is expansive -- or detailed -- enough to be considered a really-real WIP... but this is what I did today after receiving my rivet dies in the mail from Tracy.

CHEAP HARBOR FREIGHT ARBOR PRESS -----> KYDEX RIVET PRESS

16754607733_754270fce3_b.jpg


And THAT's what's up with that. Elapsed time ~30 minutes... because I had to Drill Doctor my 3/8" drill bit.

Y'all may see the first Kydex to come out of my shop in the coming weeks. Very exciting.:shush:

Erin
 
Good WIP. I'd like to offer a couple other tips too. I did the same thing with the exception of the transfer punch. A lot of guys won't have a set of those, so just install the male die in the ram and put some layout fluid on the anvil. Lower the ram and scribe an arc with the die. You can then drill anywhere along that arc and get a perfect fit. My top die would occasionally fall out, so I also put a 2-56 set screw in the ram to hold it in place. One last tip I got from Bossdog, draw a little diagram on the side of the press so you remember which side of the rivet goes up.
 
Self Made Knives said:
Good WIP. I'd like to offer a couple other tips too. I did the same thing with the exception of the transfer punch. A lot of guys won't have a set of those, so just install the male die in the ram and put some layout fluid on the anvil. Lower the ram and scribe an arc with the die. You can then drill anywhere along that arc and get a perfect fit. My top die would occasionally fall out, so I also put a 2-56 set screw in the ram to hold it in place. One last tip I got from Bossdog, draw a little diagram on the side of the press so you remember which side of the rivet goes up.
Click to expand...

Good points Anthony. There are also some semi-important items that I failed to mention above.

  • To remove the ram, I loosened the four bolts on the face of the ram-guide... but did not remove them. When loose enough, there's enough room for the ram to disengage from the drive teeth and slide out. HOWEVER, there is a little plate behind the ram-guide shim bolts (the two bolts in the middle of the front plate). When removing the ram, this little plate can fall out. Don't lose it. You'll want to put it back in when reassembling.
  • When drilling the ram:
    • You'll need a machine with a good vise and enough throat depth to accommodate the ram and drill. My little mill wouldn't handle the depth, so I ended up using the floor-standing drill press.
    • You'll want to make sure that the ram and drill(s) line up straight. As can be seen in the photo, the transfer punch that I used was quite long... so if my ram hole was drilled crooked, the mark in the anvil plate for the bottom die could end up significantly off target. One {additional} way to mitigate this would have been to cut the transfer punch down to a shorter length... but I didn't want to end up with one stubby punch in my set. BTW, the punch set was super-cheap from Harbor Freight, and has proven very useful over the years.
  • When drilling (in general):
    • Spot the holes first.
    • Drill the holes small first... then increase the bit sizes gradually until you get to 3/8". I think I drilled these holes in four steps.


Concerning the set screw for the top die... I originally intended to install one, but I ended up with a nice slip-fit on the hole, which retains the die without a screw. At this point, the set-screw doesn't seem necessary... but I reserve the right to reevaluate after I've had a chance to set a few rivets. :3:

Erin
 
I have an arbor press laying around I might do this to. Thanks for the WIP, very nice.
 
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