Re: Hinge Rivets

"Jim Wilkins"  wrote in message news:v4t3d5$1iurg$1@dont-email.me...

I've used my Roper #5 Jr clone with a shop made punch and die, to dimple for countersunk rivets. They need to be hardened so they don't expand and jam.

This is a larger and more capable version. I bought mine used for much much less.
https://www.roperwhitney.com/our-products/no-xx-hand-punch-deep-throat/
They have the advantages over a hand punch and hammer of guaranteed alignment and sensitive feel and adjustment between adequate and damaging pressure. Within limits they can add neat and accurately placed holes to sheet metal that's already been formed. Custom punches are simple to fit if you can't find them to buy.
A ball end mill can serve as a lathe concave radius cutter. For a convex radius cutter I grind an HSS blank with a conical stone, which gives a circular arc with front edge relief. Usually the radius doesn't need to be a precise size.
The type of used bench punch I would not recommend for occasional one-off jobs uses four horizontal setscrews to carefully align the square die with the punch. Although it was quite capable the set-up time was too long, though I'd still buy one at the right low price.
The fuss, risk and tooling cost of riveting drove me to modifying standard hardware into shoulder screws etc where production could use rivets. I bought the proper tooling when the company would pay for it, at home I collect it second-hand or design and make my own.
I hope I didn't send you down the wrong path. Sheet metal work is fairly easy only with the right equipment, which I used industrially and acquired enough of at home.