Question about riveting

Hello,

I've read several posts where the person claims that supports for their decking are rock solid after being rivited together. I've tried riveting some supports together but I always seem to have some amount of play at each joint. Is normal or am I doing something wrong. I've never riveted anything in my life before today.

I am using 3/16 aluminum angle bars with 3/16 "long" rivets. I don't plan on building my supports out of aluminum this thick but it's all I had available to start testing some ideas. Would aluminum that's thinner make a much tighter bond than what I am getting now?

Thanks

3/16" is pretty thick, but with the right rivet it should work. Try clamping it with a vice grip and then setting the rivet, the two pieces may still spin around the rivet, but there shouldn't be any "play".

All rivets have a "grip length". .1875"+.1875" = .375", so make sure the rivets you are using have a grip range that includes 3/8". If you switch to .125" angle or square tube, you'll want .250". As Rat pointed out, it may still be able to spin a bit, which is why I intend to use two rivets at intersections that will be the most load-bearing. This should increase stability and reduce any "wobble", but then again, I tend to over-do it at times so... /shrug. lol.. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the replies

What I meant by "play" is that the pieces can spin around the rivet. When I use a second rivet like BossHogg suggests it prevents them from spinning.

Thanks for your replies

Hi ya'll. Newbie to the board. Yeh I'm southern bred and cornbread fed. I just found this kick@@@ site and wanted to share a rivet trick I found out about.
I'm a retired auto mechanic by trade and a few years back when my jon boat seat clamp cut loose and dumped me overboard in Lake Maurepas ( VERY entertaining to everybody at the boat ramp. In hind sight, pretty funny to me too ), I used the big 1/4 " rivets that G.M. used on the older cars to hold the window door glass to the window regulator. It does require one monster of a rivet gun, but it can be gotten at any auto parts store even though they may have to order it. It is probably not suitable to close inside work being a two handed tool, but when it splits those big ol' rivets it locks down and will not let go.
I currently own a 1974 1536 Duracraft and am about to start my own project. Thanks for all the info and ideas. Again, KICK@@@ site

Oops. I should note that I just had the seat clamp on when I went swimming. After I riveted the seat clamp, I never had another problem with slipping.

As a general rule the length of your rivet should be 1 1/2 times the dia.So when you stick your rivet through it sticks out 1 1/2 times the dia.If it sticks out a little more that doesn't hurt,but not too much because that isn't good either.The 1 1/2 times is aircraft standard.