[knucklehead 61]

ok, i must be retarded or something. i have a parts kit & need to remove the old rsp rivits. the original rsp was plasma cut off. someone has started drilling out the rivits & gave up. i chucked it up in my mill & used carbide drill bits & could only polish the rivits with the bit. no chips off the drill! next, i used a cut off wheel to grind down the rivit heads so i could re center punch them & try drilling again (hoping that i had cut through some of the hardened steel). no dice, can barely even mark the rivit with a center punch! tried another brand new cobalt bit (slow & lots of cutting oil) & only made a small nearly polished indentation. W.T.F. am i doing wrong here? what's the secret? someone school me please!

 

[tomt]

remove rivits

i put what ever it is in a vise in a mill. i use carbide center cutting end mill just below whatever the dia is. go straight down till the head pops off. after this just put in a vise and pop em out with a slightly smaller punch. works evertime !! hth. tomt

 

[bigblock]

Ive always used a die grinder to flatten the head and then a cheapo home depot husky drill bit in a hand drill to drill half way through them and then punch them out with a punch. I wonder if the plasma cutter got hot enough to temper everything? I just got a bunch of kits that are the same plasma cut side plate but haven't worked on them yet. All the other kits Ive got were cut with a wheel or something.

 

[HuecoDoc]

On my RSP, some rivets came out real easy and others (about 1/3) were just like yours. Those several hard ones chewed up my brand new cobalt bits, and flattened the tip of my centerpunch, too. Some people have no problem with them, but there is a lot of variability in the hardness. I ground all mine down first. Don't forget about the flush rivet like I did.

After reading a similar thread here last week, I ordered several center drill bits, but my gun is done!

 

[Kali Komrade]

There...

There were some kits that seemed to be a little chamfered on the bottomplate holes and the easiest way then was to centerpunch the rivet dead center after getting the head flush with the bottomplate then drill through the rivet with a 5/32 drill bit then drive the sides of the rivet to the center and then push it on through...

More than a few guys here got a little over excited and bent a bottomplate so be careful...

 

[Dan @ Angola Armory]

Review the thread posted last week, spotting drills work the best.
Dan

 

[csa_1981]

I have had luck grinding the rivets flush, drilling a hole (use 1/8" bit) about half way through the ground rivet. I then take a center punch and stick in the hole. After a couple of good whacks with the hammer, the rivet usually cave in and pops out the other side.

 

[HC in KC]

Too Much Heat

Rivets are nothing but mild steel ...however, with all the grinding and excess temperatures that it creates ...well lets say you had some accidental heat treating.

Stop grinding ...just center punch and drill.

Hss drills are all thats required on the rivets that have not been adulterated.

When you exceed the capacity of a solid carbibe drill, the next option is to find someone with an EDM machine.

 

[L999here]

....in the process....

Several things have occured here....on most of the kits. I agree...with the heat from the RSP being cut off it appears that the steel rivets have become hardened. I tried to drill too....same result....nothing. Sharpened up my center punch....same problem. Well....they are hardened anyway....so ground off the heads. Steel was a bit softer now and could punch it out....but put a block of steel underneath the bottom plate/RSP remnent for support. Just did fifteen (15) of these and some were less trouble...one or two took me about 15 min. to get the rivets out....but they all came out OK. DON'T FORGET TO SUPPORT THE BOTTOM PLATE...or you will crack or bend the bottom plate. Been lucky so far.....good luck to youse' guys with 1 or 2 kits. My arms and hands are still aching......

 

[soulreaper]

my rivets were realy easy to remove i just used standard wood drill bits punched it then started small and worked my way up then just punched it out but there was a rivet i missed that was very hard to see unless you were looking for it
also is it nessisary to remove the rear sight to park?

 

[HuecoDoc]

there was a rivet i missed that was very hard to see unless you were looking for it

I failed to see that rivet, too. Then I kept failing to see that rivet.

Here's a link to the recent rivet removal thread:
http://1919a4.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15481

 

[L999here]

....not really....

my rivets were realy easy to remove i just used standard wood drill bits punched it then started small and worked my way up then just punched it out but there was a rivet i missed that was very hard to see unless you were looking for it
also is it nessisary to remove the rear sight to park?

Not really necessary...just a pain to remove/replace. I've done it both ways. Remember to get all the sand/abrasive out before you park. Then just blow it out and lubricate after parking. I really don't blast the rear sight....just clean it out before parking and check it afterwards.