[willys36@aol.com]

I need some drill bits capable of drilling out the rivets in these wheels so I can reverse them.



HSS bits won't touch the steel in the rivets (grade 8?). I tried solid carbide and they did a great job, fell right through the rivets but they just sit there looking for an excuse to break off. Can't afford to drill 20 rivets @ $12/rivet!

Eastwood has this set of bits that sound like they would be the ticket but I don't want the whole set, just a couple 1/4" ones to attack my rivets. Does anyone know where I can buy individual tough, hardened bits like this that can drill tough steels?

[OneMoreTime]

Willy,

There is an outfit in our area called Tacoma Screw Products that carries a full line of industrial tools and hardware..I would think that in your area there shoudl be a similar outlet..I can get 1 or a 100 of just about any kind of thing I need from those guys..

Lacking that it looks like those rivet heads stick up..I have one of those little mini air drive cutoff saws from Harbor Frieght..Might try that...

Try cutting off the heads of the rivets and then take a big punch and the 4 lb hammer to the rivet ... should work..

Least that is what I would try as the ole grind off the heads punch em out deal has worked for me for ages..

OMT

[willys36@aol.com]

Trust me, I have tried all of those 'easy' methods. Hammered from the front, the back, with heat to expand the aluminum, with a pneumatic impact hammer, and any other way you can think of. I have ground off all the rivet heads and center punched them ready to drill. The one that I drilled successfully with a couple of carbide bits showed the sides of the rivets are heavily fluted with helix threads that bite deeply into the aluminum so there is no way to press them out short of a hydraulic press with many hundred #s of pressure. There is no easy way to set up the wheel for that process.

I don't have an industrial tool supply house here in Bakersfield so would have to go to LA which leaves me with the best option of finding out form you guys where to look!

[color=red][size=5]UPDATE:[/color] [/size] Machine shop tom just PM'd me with a link to a supplier and I ordered two! Only downside is that the supplier has a LOT of toys that I 'need'. Thanx a lot Tom!!

[OneMoreTime]

That is what we are here for..

OMT

[Beenaway2long]

errr--

Willys-
"Toys that you need"? Tell us the supplier now, no teasing !! And tell us what toys...


Jeff

[willys36@aol.com]

Enco. And just about the whole catalog!!

[BOBCRMAN@aol.com]

GREAT PLACE!!!! I bought my vertical mill, 14" lathe, band saw and many other shop supplies from them. Good prices and shipping is second to none!!

[Beenaway2long]

Cool !

[Kevin45]

Willys...take a close look at those bits of Eastwoods. Those are carbide tipped drill bitts and you should be able to pick them up at Lowes. Home Depot, etc.

[OneMoreTime]

yeah great site..found some reamers that I can use there..

OMT

[4 Jaw Chuck]

Heat the rivet heads red hot with a torch and then cool them with WD-40 or other spray lubricant. Use a small five pound sledge hammer and a good punch to drive them out.

You may have to repeat the procedure many times if they are extensively corroded into the aluminum.

The process works because of the different expansion rates between the dissimilar metals and will help break the bond formed from years of corrosion.

Be patient, it can take 5-10 heat cycles before they get loose enough to drive out.

[daimon1054]

For some reason that does not make sence to me. The aluminum will spread heat and therefore heat slower than the steel rivet. That means the rivet will expand faster than the aloy making it tighter, then the aloy will cool faster again making it tighter. How can this work? I have seen heating the outside part and freezing the inside to put it togther and that gives lmost a pres fit when at room temp but never this.

I am not saying your wrong just that it does not make sence acording to the laws of physics as I understand them.

[jimfulco]

Aluminum usually expands more from the heat than steel does.

[Kevin45]

I tried solid carbide and they did a great job, fell right through the rivets but they just sit there looking for an excuse to break off. Can't afford to drill 20 rivets @ $12/rivet!

Another thing also. A solid carbide bit will drill out all 20 but the key is to support the rim solid and use a drill press. Solid carbide is brittle and any flex at all will shatter it. I use solid carbide to drill out taps that have been broken out and I doubt the rivets are harder than that. The key is a solid piece, a stable drill press, and let the drill bit do the work. BTW..when you reverse the rims are you leaving the valve stem inside or going to plug and move it to the outside?

[willys36@aol.com]

I did use a drill press and still lost the carbide bits. The Enco sales literature specifically says their solid carbide bits are NOT for hardened steel, just mild steel aluminum etc. I guess the goal is long life in lots of production holes. The bits I bought are high carbon steel shafts with two straight flutes and sharp carbide tips - the drill bit equivalent of a milling bit - and are recommended for drilling hardened steel.

And chuck, I heated a rivet red so many times and beat on it twice as many times it would make you puke!! I was amazed how deep the threads were on the sides of the rivet I finally drilled out. There isn't any possible way to urge them out short of enough hydraulic press pressure to yield the aluminum and I can't figure a way to get my press into the shrouded tail of the rivet. They are nothing more than high carbon steel so there HAS to be a drill bit that can attack them successfully. I have high hopes for the carbide tipped ones I ordered from Enco. As I said, the solid carbide bits drilled the rivets easily but are way too brittle for the application.

Oh, and the valve stems will be inside, just like Ed Roth did it!