Hi Bill,

I saw your notes especially the one to me about making some rivets.
If I made anything it would have to be from round stock or billet type material. Maybe something that was scrap or shot something and I kept for its metal.
It probably would not be better than what you can buy over a counter.

Bolts screws and Rivets are not exactly what you might think and are made like bolts and screws using a “dead heading process” that is more or less like a forged product because it’s done cold.

Here is an example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOsnteNWJ_c
As you see from above this is company and surroundings that I’m familiar with but not exactly appreciative of their company pricing structure in retail outlets.
This will give you an idea of why I think they are more expensive than they need to be.
Just watch the catch bins!
They have many franchises around the country and IMO that hurts them but if you need something you can go look them in the eyes and put hands on it. That’s a luxury that costs more than I would have ever imagined.


The rivet material is made stronger in many ways.
What you can make in a lathe will not have the grain structure or hardness that you saw cutting through the spring rod material in the hinge.

The spring is only tempered so it’s not as tough or hard as the rivet. Each made to possess a particular purpose of function.

I have an email in my profile page if you want to share pictures.
I have never paid any attention to a 900 series door hinge.
What you are describing might be repaired or redesigned to accept a small diameter shoulder bolt.
They come hardened and the cam wheel made to turn on it.
The bolt could be threaded in or welded but then so could a rivet that’s far cheaper.
Examples like …
https://www.fastenal.com/product/Fasteners/Rivets/Solid%2520Rivets?fsi=1&categoryId=612205

Repairing is like engineering.
Pick you diameter and length but stay standard in one form or another to make bean counters or frugal owners happy. 🙂


I agree that Ford used the same system on their pickups of the seventies.
I will agree that Fords “better ideas” and the advertisers using a light bulb turning on was a bit miss leading.
They tested products to see how long they would last but it turned out to be a double edged sword or balance beam for consumers.
They learned to not to make anything last longer, especially, if it was costing more to produce.
If you think I’m picking on Ford or the automotive industry just look in the plumbing business.
They really push the envelope of thin as possible or special so nothing else fits in when it’s obsolete.
The door hinge has lots of options.

I also noticed within the pickup models, covering several years, that a hole would appear in sheet metal bracing to become a bracket for the vacuum tank or evaporative canister.. The engine hood got lighter and possibly weaker but the “ideas”reduced costs to meet mandates.

Scaling needs to be in a photograph or exact dimensions or it would not be very helpful to manufacture from.

As far as installing rivets by what you are calling “staking” is a similar to the heading process.
Another term that can be considered as swaging. A Pop rivet.
Production lines use cross hammer formation heads, to increase tightness along the diameter inside the joint material.
A rotary orbiting machine only closes the end without excessive stresses on the crimping material.
It’s more gradual and controlled.

Riveting goes back a long ways into the history of metal fasteners or before metals.
Pegs and wedges in wood are leaders to our plastic rivets of today.

Phil