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Oops...Looking for Tips

Capflyer

Capflyer

Well Known Member
I had an oops moment a few weeks back and now struggling to figure out if there is even a way to sort these rivets out. 3's & 4's, 426's and 470's of all lengths mixed together. Anyone have a good technique to share for sorting them out?

6i8hew.jpg
 
Put all the flush in a pile, and the round head in a seperate pile.

Now, take the flush pile and split it into two piles, 3s, and 4s. Do the same with the round heads.

You now have 4 piles, only difference in each is the length of the rivet.

Now, seperate each pile by length------tedious and time consuming at best, but good way to occupy your time when you have a few minutes.

I find that a cupcake pan, or an empty egg carton will make this final sorting easier.

Good luck
 
Ooops.
It's not worth it. Throw them in a can and you will always have a place to look for an odd one or two down the line. Order new ones and move on. Rivets are super cheap.

...and yes, I have done the same thing.

However, if someone has a brilliant idea, I am all ears and hundreds of rivets richer!
 
Plus 1

JonJay said:
Ooops.
It's not worth it. Throw them in a can and you will always have a place to look for an odd one or two down the line. Order new ones and move on. Rivets are super cheap.

...and yes, I have done the same thing.
Click to expand...

And I've done the same thing myself.

Dan
 
Find someone in your family that likes puzzles. Otherwise, I too would not even waste the time.
 
The penalty for such an egregious act is to seperate them whilst sitting in front of the tv. Or you could replace them and keep those in a baggie for when you need "just one more rivet". :D
 
Mixed rivets

I bought two seven compartment oblong plastic containers . They were for Mon. Tues Wednesday... pills
.Each compartment has its own hinged snap lid and will hold 2.oz. of -3 -4 rivets, or 120 in each compartment.
Open the one compartment lid for the length you are using. Make sure the others are snap closed. Cost $4NZ each. Cheap/simple. Not a cure I know but then you don't get to this stage!
Neil Robertson
 
Our local grocery store has a rivet sorting machine, right next to the coin sorting machine. Of course you only get 90% of the rivets back, and mostly ones you don't want. Don't you have the same thing in your area?:D

I agree, put them in a bag and save for a when you need a few extra rivets on some project.

Greg
 
Step one: knock up yer wife
Step two: wait about 4 years
Step three: pay 4-year-old a dollar to sort them
 
You said 4yr old, right...?

Great advice but I don't have a 4 yr old. So, I figured what's the big deal about 4 yrs old...? My son is almost half that old. What's a few months one way or another?

Now all my mixed up rivets are gone and he's not hungry. Any idea where they might be? No worries, I can recover them in about 24-72 hours.

Next I'll try my 3yr old daughter...then my wife...then throw them in a bag for when I need "one more rivet".
 
Donate them to the local sally ann or Restore, go back in a week and buy the sorted rivets for a fraction of the cost of new. we do this at work all the time for the boxes of nuts and bolts that end up in the Odd pail.

yea its mean, but it usually works.
 
A 4-yr old might be a tad bit young, indeed. But I have a too-cute 7-yr old granddaughter who loves to help me "work on the airplane". I got her started on a pile of mixed rivets the other night and as soon as she figured out what we were doing, she pushed me aside, wanting to do it all by herself. Like a big girl. She had it all sorted out in no time. And she loved every minute of it, too! :D
 
szicree said:
Step one: knock up yer wife
Step two: wait about 4 years
Step three: pay 4-year-old a dollar to sort them
Click to expand...

Ha Ha Ha... Step one complete :D... Now I have a bag of "assorted" rivets waiting for my daughter when she gets here in february. I'll set them next to her crib when she gets here & wait four years. By then the plane will be done & hopefully the the rivets will be magically sorted out by then. :rolleyes:
 
While this is a little too late for you I might mention what I did for others. I bought some of the HF storage containers that have separate little bins. I sorted my rivets into those bins. Then when I need a rivet I just take that bin out of the storage container and make sure I snap the container shut. That way if I knock it over its just that one bin. Sometimes a may have a few bins out, but I try to limit this situation. I have been worried about do this same exact thing.

Sorry to hear about this, but I'm thinking it might be best to just start over with some new rivets. If you have to search for every rivet it will really slow you down.
 
This is my first post here so I thought I would introduce myself. My name it Terry, I am from Edmonton Alberta but I am currently studying chemical engineering in Thunder Bay Ontario. I intend to start building an RV-12 shortly after finishing my school in a few years.

While surfing on the internet a few days ago I came across the video below and immediately thought about how useful these organization boxes could be when building a plane. They are called the T-BOXX.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OPSbF6kM9k

http://www.sortimo.co.uk/Catalogues.1753.0.html

I am not associated with Sortimo in any way I am just recommending an item that I think would be very helpful.
 
My simple rule is to never have more rivets out than I am willing to sort or pick up.

To make that happen, I use the numerous drawers type of storage. Each drawer is a rivet size/type and if it is like the -3-3.5, I only keep a couple of hundred at most in the drawer. The bags are easy to store and don't mix. Still manage to knock over a tray now and then. A hint would be to pour out some of the rivets on whatever since the most likely time to knock over a drawer is when reaching in go grab just one more. Make it a game, how close can you come to putting the right number out.

I also have half a coffee can filled with the rivets left over from my -6A, quite a bunch of rivets. Those are in the if I am desperate category. It is the best use of your pile.

I taked to a builder who had your problem and his wife sorted them out. When I told him he should have just written a check to Vans, his wife agreed and started chewing him out.
 
Come on

Man up to the task at hand.

1. Purchase enough plastic containers to hold each size/type rivet when you are done sorting them.
2. Get a bunch of large cardboard boxes. These boxes will be big enough that you can throw each rivets as you sort them out while watching a football game on tv, etc. without missing the correct box. So what if it takes a few games - take your time.
3. After sorting , place the newly sorted rivets into the plastic containers that you bought.
4. This will develop patience an appreciation for the lowly rivet.
 
Thanks all for the suggestions. A little background on this riveting incident (oh wow, I made a joke :D) Except for these, all my rivets are stored safe and sound in individual plastic drawer cabinets. What happened here was when I purchased a second hand kit all the rivets were stored in a cabinet with individual drawers. I carefully taped the drawers so they would not slide out and thought all would be good for the ride home in a bumpy trailer. What I really should have done was cover the tops of each individual drawer. After 200 miles and a few hundred highway bumps, I opened the trailer at home to find that the cabinet was now on its back with the drawers were still in place but all the rivets had bounced out the back of the cabinet all over the floor of the trailer.

So the lesson here is if you are going to transport rivets or anything else in the cabinets with drawers, be sure to cover each drawer.

I never thought this thread would have so many responses. I think I'll put them all in a bin and slowly over time, because there really is no hurry, sort a few at a time......or maybe just think about doing that as I walk over to my hangar fridge and grab beer.
 
Capflyer said:
I think I'll put them all in a bin and slowly over time, because there really is no hurry, sort a few at a time......or maybe just think about doing that as I walk over to my hangar fridge and grab beer.
Click to expand...

That is what I was suggesting in post 2.

Good busy work when you need to let the subconsious loose to work on a problem:D
 
Try using a bunch of these. They are awesome, really easy to squeeze out one or two rivets at a time and you can drop it all day long without loosing any.

0f24562e_008236963649lg.jpeg
 
Kreeve said:
Donate them to the local sally ann or Restore, go back in a week and buy the sorted rivets for a fraction of the cost of new. we do this at work all the time for the boxes of nuts and bolts that end up in the Odd pail.

yea its mean, but it usually works.
Click to expand...

That's awful!!:eek:

And also quite useful... :D
 
DYI Rivet Sorter...?

Awhile back, I had an idea for a rivet sorter when I was sending ideas to the HalfBakery. It seems to be simple and straightforward enough. I would be interested if anyone ever tries the idea.
 
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