old school rivit tool, to modify or to not

[tylers]

Hey everyone, this is one of my first posts, I come across the old 1940 brake lining rivit machine last weeekend and hauled it home for 100 bucks. I sort of do not want to start tearing it all apart and modifying the crap out of it so I was thinking on maybe keeping the original rivit mechanisms functional, now I have about 10 spare jaws from my kick shrinker/ stretcher, What does everyone maybe think about me making like a 8" throught shrinker stretcher adapter for it? Does everyone think that would actually work, the throw on the upper pin is about 1", all the mechanics of the stand are like new, Thanks

[Ben]

Hi Tyler,

i think it can be done, before you go for the big change you could do a trial setup to see if there is enough power in the lever mechanism.

Ben

[Joe Hartson]

Tyler, What kind of dies do you have? Marchant, Eckold, Lancaster, other. The press has a toggle mechanism so it should have a lot of force at the bottom of its stroke.

[CARS]

Try it! People told me that converting a box stapler to a shrinker/stretcher stand would never work. Worked great! Now I am "hands free".

[MP&C]

When I look at your pictures, what I visualize is a tucking tool similar to the one John Kelly has. It looks like it accepts different dies, perhaps you could make some interchangeable dies for a multipurpose machine.

[tylers]

A tucking tool would be an excellent idea Robert, it does accept different dies, I started building holders for the shrinker/stretcher dies today we will see how it works out tommorow, I have a bunch of those over sea dies kicking around Joe, not very heavy duty but workable, I like the look of that stapler stand Christopher, has some neat castings and mechanics to it.Thanks for the ideas guys

[doug_walter2002]

I have the same machine but just have it for an ornament. I have another similar one that I use for tuck shrinking similar to John Kelly's.

[Kerry Pinkerton]

Personally, I believe converting that into a machine for making tucks would be a waste of a neat frame. Tucks are just TOO easy to make with just a set of tucking forks, stand mounted (my preference) or T handle. It's kind of like a problem that doesn't need solving imo. I understand that some folks have trouble crushing tucks but it just takes a minute or so with the right instruction and the light bulb goes off.

You MIGHT be able to adapt that for Lancaster shrinking dies. I'm not sure of the backbone size...it looks a bit light...

[bobadame]

The lower arm looks like the weakest part of the frame. Might want to support it from below.