AN Rivet Coating Removal?

Wesley J · Feb 11, 2021

Hey Guys,

I'm building aluminum furniture and need an easy method for removing the coating from AN470A (soft aluminum) rivets.

I was thinking maybe the tumbler would be a good start. Thoughts?

I need to remove the coating on hundreds so I'd rather get something non-labour intensive.

Cheers,

Wes

MP&C · Feb 11, 2021

Are the style you’re using not available in the bare finish?

dffay · Feb 11, 2021

Easy Off oven cleaner removes anodizing. Maybe it’s a start.

MoonRise · Feb 12, 2021

dffay said:
Easy Off oven cleaner removes anodizing. Maybe it’s a start.

It also dissolves the aluminum itself.

ZRX61 · Feb 12, 2021

Is the furniture going to have a polished finish?

cvairwerks · Feb 12, 2021

You want MS20470Ax-yy with either an A or S for the following letter code. Reading the code, x will be the diameter and yy will be the length.

A and S for the last letter (the finish code) denotes clear anodize. Understand that the first A denotes dead soft rivets. If you want to read the entire spec, go to everyspec.com, select Library, select MS and go from there. AN470 spec was superseded by the MS20470 spec a long while back.

BTW, you will probably have to buy a large batch, meaning a pound or more at a time, to get those finish code rivets.

Wesley J · Feb 13, 2021

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Chemical removal is not an option.

For polished furniture its not an issue as it comes off very easily.

cvairwerks, thank you very much, that's exactly what I need. Do you have a source? The place I buy up here in Canada doesn't seem to stock them.

tmshort · Feb 13, 2021

Post pics of the furniture?
I’m building an aluminum airplane (Van’s RV-8) and am interested to see what you are putting together.

Wesley J · Feb 14, 2021

Thats like asking a dad to see pics of his new baby, lol.

Here's one of my end table prototypes. I'm making this design in various sizes as well as a coffee table version. My production legs have a more pronounced curve to them.