An Easy Tool for Creating Perfectly Shaped Rivet Heads

By Helen I. Driggs

I make a lot of wire rivets and I love the look of shiny and perfectly hemispherical rivet heads. However, achieving a perfectly shaped rivet head can be difficult with the cross peen of a standard riveting or goldsmith’s hammer. The trouble with hammering rivet heads and upsetting the wire end is those ruts—an inevitable side effect of the process. And, once you sand the ruts off and polish them, you often lose your hemispherical rivet head. I made a handy little punch to correct that problem.