Quote:
Originally Posted by yeepers
Dave,
Looks nice  Price is great. My question is...the bottom peg...is that just to hold the tubing in place while you're flaring the top side? Or does it help shape the the lip of the rivet as well?
-Yee |
Hi Yee,
The peg is there for both reasons. The tip holds the tubing square and centered directly beneath the cone, eliminating most of the finagling needed to get a nice straight plunge. The rest of the peg actually does shape the bead, making domed ends or flat, depending on how you use the tool. I will explain that in detail soon, but for now, here's the basics as best I can explain it in text characters and words::
Flaring is done in two or more passes, depending on the result you want...
Here is how a basic flat end is made:
(1) Place tube and bead, flare top end, A. Bottom end of tube remains unchanged:
.. \ / A
. (||) <-bead
.. || B
(2) Turn over, Flatten A (that happens first since it takes less force to flatten then it does to flare.) Then continue screwing down the cone until B is flared.
. \ / B
. ||
. - - A
(3) Repeat on the other end. (The top end will not flare AGAIN appreciably, at this point, _unless you want it to_, and go past the point where the bottom is just flattened
- - A
| |
- - B
Now you're done with the tool. Lightly tap down both sides to tighten with soft or smooth small metal hammer, as usual. You never use the tool to tighten the rivet. It is too much force.
To make a more domed apperance, you just need to bend the flattened part beyond the horizontal, as in Andrew's nicely illustrated tutorial on the dapping / hammering method. The tool can do that quite well, and accurately, with little or no hammering:
Consider what happens if you go back to step 3 above, and continue the process. (For this example you would have chosen a longer length of tubing, OR a shorter flaring plunge at each step, so you are starting here at the end of step 3, with both ends flattened, but with a longer straight section. ie, there is still a gap between the bead and each flattened end. Lets see if I can illustrate that too:
(3)
._ _ A
.| |
(| |) bead
.| |
- - B
And now, text character graphics don't suffice to show what happens to the top end if you flare it once more... but here's an attempt:
/\ /\
(| |) (Meow..)
.| |
.- -
So, since you have a flattening and flaring combination tool, you are essentially doing the dapping and hammering "past the horizontal" or mushrooming as Andrew calls it, but, you are accomplishing that by flaring the the already flattened end, which has a similar effect to just hammering the edges down. Look again at the black bead, and you'll see the difference. You should see that not only the outer edge of the lip is curved, as it would be by the hammering method, but the INSIDE edge is curved as well...
And, since each turn of the handle moves the cone by a precise, accurate amount, you have a great control advantage, and your results will be repeatable. You are working the entire circumference at once, instead of tap tap tap all around, etc. So it is really fast and you can watch carefully exactly what is taking place as you go. You can get several different styles depending on how far you flare and flatten on each pass. For instance, small increnents say 1/4 turn at a time, with a short tube (say 3 mm extra length) will make a high dome with a thin lip. Doing that with a longer tube will produce a wider lip. On the black bead above I think I did 2 passes with 3/4 or a half turn each, and about 3.6 mm extra length. (ie, about a 9 mm bead and a 12.6 mm tube.) Again, that bead was cored, domed, and cinched in just about one minute.
All this explanation is probably going to make it seem complicated. It isn't that hard, but there is a learning curve as with anything, So I'll try and get some illustrations and pictures of the process step by step up real soon rather than trying to describe it in words only.
Thanks for your question!
Dave