October 31, 2018
A sweet treat for your bag of tricks — Happy Halloween!
Matt Jackson is at it again. Working on a custom home renovation, he learned a great tip from his sheet metal subcontractor for fastening sheet metal or coil stock to wood framing or trim. Sam Webb, owner of Division 7 Sheet Metal taught Matt to flip the mandrel part of a pop rivet to make a reverse-rivet.
The reverse-rivet is then used like a washer-head nail. Installed into a bed of silicone caulk and touched up with touch-up paint for a clean, finished rivet job.
Step by step:
- Drill a hole approximately the depth and width of the mandrel
- Seal the hole with a dab of silicone caulk
- Reverse the mandrel on the rivet
- Drive the rivet home, tapping the mandrel into the hole first
Clean excess caulk with denatured alcohol.
—Matt Jackson is a master carpenter, remodeler, SketchUp Wiz, YouTuber, and contributing editor to ProTradeCraft. He lives and works in Rapid City, South Dakota.
