Unriveting

Unriveting refers to the process of removing rivets from a structure or component. Rivets are mechanical fasteners that permanently join two or more materials together by passing a metal pin through aligned holes and deforming the ends. Unriveting is often necessary for repair, disassembly, or replacement of parts.

The most common method of unriveting involves drilling out the rivet head. A drill bit, typically sized to match the rivet shank diameter, is used to carefully remove the formed head of the rivet. Once the head is gone, the remaining rivet shank can often be pushed or driven out using a punch and hammer. Specialized tools exist to facilitate this process, especially for larger or more numerous rivets.

Another technique involves using a rivet buster, a pneumatic tool that vibrates and hammers the rivet shank, breaking it free from the material. For certain types of rivets, like blind rivets, specific removal tools are designed to extract the rivet body. In some cases, particularly with older or weakened materials, cutting tools like angle grinders or reciprocating saws might be used, though this carries a higher risk of damaging the surrounding materials. The choice of unriveting method depends on the type of rivet, the materials being joined, the accessibility of the rivet, and the tools available. Safety precautions, such as eye protection, are essential during unriveting due to flying debris.