Cleaning rusty steel parts fitted to Cast aluminium pans?

[santaman2000]

....although saying that looking at them I'd just take the heads off with the power file, something I've become quite dexterous with. I suppose farting about with models has paid off when it comes to having a light touch, and knock them through with a drift......

To be honest we were taught to remove rivets by just drilling the head with a bit the same diameter as the rivet shank and then to insert the punch into the drilling and snap the head off before using the same punch to drive the rivet out. Obviously when removing a hundred or more rivets from an aircraft skin we rarely took so many separate steps.

 

[santaman2000]

......Just out of interest ( you can see I'm trying to avoid it like the plague ) what are Alu rivets like to use? I've done plenty of iron , brass and copper ones ( all small ones done cold ) .

ATB

Tom

That's a complicated question. It all depends on the particular alloy. The most common ones in aviation use are driven cold and are very easy compared to steel rivets. Others require annealing first and are usually called "icebox rivets." The ones we used had to be raised to a temperature of 940f (plus or minus 40f) for about a half hour if memory serves. They would then need to be used within a half hour or stored in the freezer (hence the term "icebox rivets") to prevent them from re-hardening. While in their annealed state they are also very easy to drive.

I suspect that being used in cookware they might be of still a different alloy that resists cooking heat.

 

[tombear]

I'm a bit of a nightmare when it comes to accurate drilling, I need to get a pillar drill ( the strap your black and decker to a frame jobs I have are too flimsy and the locking gears ain't that hot. ) or better still get the extended chuck that fits on my 1/2 hp morticer to convert it into a pillar drill. Only problem with that it's only single speed.

Oddly enough I found some rivets today when tidying up the shed. Two titanium ones from the cancelled TSR-2 project, a souvenir from the museum at RAF Cosford.

Cheers for the info on Alu rivets.

ATB

Tom

 

[twyforge]

Absolute best way to remove rust imo is with those little wire brushes you can get for use in power drills in an air die grinder. Bought one to do the shock towers on my car because I already have my compressor, and the new tool novelty - and accompanying infectious grin - hasn't quite yet worn off