Project "Gettin' out of the Ghetto"

[biff]

Hi 3.0charlie, uh no I don't have those, just the homedepot special cheapo lever type for pop rivets but thank-you very much for the offer

I'm not sure what to expect from the supplier. They are 3/32" x 1/4" long aluminum 120° countersunk with a steel mandrel, pretty tiny. Everyplace I called was very quick to say they cannot get such a thing but the last place. So either he's good at what he does and knew where to find 'em (as I had to get them shipped in special) or he has no idea and I'm going to get the wrong thing and from the sound of him I'm not very optimistic at this point. That's why I'm waiting until they are in hand to start drilling out the rivets. Do you deal with these?

jdrom17, thanks.

Thanks,
Ryan

[3.0charlie]

Yup, aerospace business. But mine are solid csk rivets, not the pop-rivet type.

[biff]

Well I got the first coat of paint on the frame today. Given the amount of prep work I'm not sure I'll be painting another one any time soon so I hope this rig lasts a while. I hope it turns out!

[Unklmo]

Originally Posted by biff

Hi 3.0charlie, uh no I don't have those, just the homedepot special cheapo lever type for pop rivets but thank-you very much for the offer

I'm not sure what to expect from the supplier. They are 3/32" x 1/4" long aluminum 120° countersunk with a steel mandrel, pretty tiny. Everyplace I called was very quick to say they cannot get such a thing but the last place. So either he's good at what he does and knew where to find 'em (as I had to get them shipped in special) or he has no idea and I'm going to get the wrong thing and from the sound of him I'm not very optimistic at this point. That's why I'm waiting until they are in hand to start drilling out the rivets. Do you deal with these?

jdrom17, thanks.

Thanks,
Ryan

like 3.0Charlie, ive got access to those rivets at work you're looking for. (both solid body and pop, counter-sunk or not) alu, or stainless available
lemme know if yours don't come work out.

[biff]

Thanks Unklmo,

I should be fine with what I got. As it turns out they gave me what I think are supposed to be 1/8" countersunk rivets though they are only about 0.110 diameter but they seem to work well enough. Also of all the specs I saw the head size of 1/8" is 6mm and the head size of the 3/32" is ~4.5mm, these are a smidge above 5mm. The head size is a little big but should work out OK. Also they are 0.4" long which is excessive for two pieces of 0.025" sheet metal so I was a little more judicious about which ones I removed so they wouldn't look like hell when it went back together. All the ones I removed should be hidden or mostly hidden since I didn't do a complete disassembly. So, so far so good but if it doesn't work out I may take you up on your offer.

Thanks

It's funny though that I got more help from this community then talking to fastener "specialists". Amazing resource we have here.

[3.0charlie]

It's normal that a rivet is longer than required, and that the stem has a smaller diameter than the hole. It allows for rivet bucking (rivet length) and for stem expansion (stem diameter) after bucking. Are you sure you have the tight tools? Like a rivet gun (http://www.rvproject.co.uk/images/Ge.../Rivet_Gun.jpg) and some bucking bars (http://www.rvproject.co.uk/images/Ge...cking_Bars.jpg)?

[biff]

Charlie, I'm using pop-rivets. I'm sure not as good as the kind you're thinking of but I kind of have to anyway as most are blind holes.

[3.0charlie]

Pop-rivets? The same principles apply regarding the lenght and stem diameter. If the stem is really too long, see if you can add a small washer on the rivet tail side, to add some thickness.

[biff]

Yep pop-rivets. Like these (for those who aren't familiar).



That's what they used, they're easy, and the tool is only like $25 at HD which I already had anyway. Like I say most are blind so adding washers isn't really an option and being blind the cosmetics of a too long rivet is moot. Of the few that I do need shorter I can just take the mandrel out and manually shorten it (uggh) then put the mandrel back in. I think I only need to shorten 6 or so, so it's not too bad.

[biff]

Originally Posted by biff

jdrom17, there is no win/win in this case. Either the rads get pre-warmed case air or the case gets pre-warmed rad air. Mounting them this way assures that the rads get the coolest air possible, therefore the CPU and GPU have the chance to run their coolest.

Sorry to quote myself but I wanted to clarify, when I say "in this case" I don't mean "with this chassis". I meant in this situation of having the fans/rads mounted this way.

And now project update time!! Waiting for paint to dry.


The parts have been sitting for about a week and the smell is almost gone which means the paint is almost done curing, well enough to be worked on. After the weekend I should be able to start putting things together. Getting a little anxious.

BTW Charlie, didn't mean to sound snotty, I appreciate the input!