Wasnt sure what section to post this under, prob would have fit a few different ones..
Anyways, I'm finally getting around to fixing up my old abused Craftsman tool chest I picked up on the cheap a long while back. And I'm wanting to remove the handles & other hardware, wire brush them clean, polish, then Nickel plate them. Not to mention to make paint stripping & painting the chest itself much easier. Everything is held together with cap rivets. The head of the rivet is 5/16.. I believe the hole/post is likely 3/16(not sure).
Anyways, I'm trying to first off, figure out which kind of rivets to buy as well as the most cost effective way to install them. Is there a cap rivet that will work in a standard rivet gun? You know the kind, the one that pulls the post through the rivet causing it to expand on the way through.
The best option I've found is a rivet press, but they're not exactly cheap And I'm not entirely sure it would be able to get into some of the tighter areas. Each drawer has about a 7/16" of ever hang that I'm concerned would interfere with the plier type rivet presses. And (Its not in front of me atm, but I believe there are some on the handles on the side that would be way too deep for any standard rivet press to get to anyways.
I really like the idea of a Chicago Screw. However, the shortest post I have yet to find is 4mm. And the handles & metal of the drawers are just under 3.5mm in thickness when combined. So, I'd have to cut the posts of each screw down with a hacksaw and I dont know if the post is tapped far enough through for this to work. This is my favorite option by far if it would work as the screws would be awesome for when the handles start getting loose, I can just tighten them up rather than trying to get a rivet crimped down further.
Chicago screw:
After looking on Amazon, I keep seeing double cap rivets as well as the rivet/eyelet pliers, but I dont think they'd get around that lip on the drawer.
I know there are manual die & rivet tool sets for leather working that you just put the die & tool on each side and hammer it down. But I really dont see this going well with a big old tool chest as you need some kind of solid surface under the die to support it when you're hammering.
Anyways, what are my options? I clearly dont care about originality. But I do want the handles to be held on by a cap rivet or cap screw. And I dont want anything too intrusive on the inside of the drawer either, so I dont really want to have a cap screw & standard nut situation either, as that imo is a janky way to go about it lol. Just want a nice clean functional solution.
Also, does anyone know where a guy might find a replacement latch for that top chest? Dude that had it before me just cut off the bottom piece, chewed up and spit out a piece of metal and half assed it onto the box with a couple little sheet metal screws. Apparently measuring was far beyond him though, because he screwed the thing on a good 3/16" too high and the top latch doesnt even touch it when the drawer is down. Its absolutely useless and looks like trash.
Anyways, I'm finally getting around to fixing up my old abused Craftsman tool chest I picked up on the cheap a long while back. And I'm wanting to remove the handles & other hardware, wire brush them clean, polish, then Nickel plate them. Not to mention to make paint stripping & painting the chest itself much easier. Everything is held together with cap rivets. The head of the rivet is 5/16.. I believe the hole/post is likely 3/16(not sure).
Anyways, I'm trying to first off, figure out which kind of rivets to buy as well as the most cost effective way to install them. Is there a cap rivet that will work in a standard rivet gun? You know the kind, the one that pulls the post through the rivet causing it to expand on the way through.
The best option I've found is a rivet press, but they're not exactly cheap And I'm not entirely sure it would be able to get into some of the tighter areas. Each drawer has about a 7/16" of ever hang that I'm concerned would interfere with the plier type rivet presses. And (Its not in front of me atm, but I believe there are some on the handles on the side that would be way too deep for any standard rivet press to get to anyways.
I really like the idea of a Chicago Screw. However, the shortest post I have yet to find is 4mm. And the handles & metal of the drawers are just under 3.5mm in thickness when combined. So, I'd have to cut the posts of each screw down with a hacksaw and I dont know if the post is tapped far enough through for this to work. This is my favorite option by far if it would work as the screws would be awesome for when the handles start getting loose, I can just tighten them up rather than trying to get a rivet crimped down further.
Chicago screw:
After looking on Amazon, I keep seeing double cap rivets as well as the rivet/eyelet pliers, but I dont think they'd get around that lip on the drawer.
I know there are manual die & rivet tool sets for leather working that you just put the die & tool on each side and hammer it down. But I really dont see this going well with a big old tool chest as you need some kind of solid surface under the die to support it when you're hammering.
Anyways, what are my options? I clearly dont care about originality. But I do want the handles to be held on by a cap rivet or cap screw. And I dont want anything too intrusive on the inside of the drawer either, so I dont really want to have a cap screw & standard nut situation either, as that imo is a janky way to go about it lol. Just want a nice clean functional solution.
Also, does anyone know where a guy might find a replacement latch for that top chest? Dude that had it before me just cut off the bottom piece, chewed up and spit out a piece of metal and half assed it onto the box with a couple little sheet metal screws. Apparently measuring was far beyond him though, because he screwed the thing on a good 3/16" too high and the top latch doesnt even touch it when the drawer is down. Its absolutely useless and looks like trash.
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