kai779•7d ago

Debate: Should we still hand-rivet or stick with welding for repair work?

An old-timer at the shop told me my weld on a 50-year-old boiler drum looked fine but wasn't authentic to the original build. I switched to hand-riveting that repair and it took me 6 hours longer but felt right. Which side do you fall on for vintage boiler work?

2 comments

2 Comments

josephf107d ago

My grandpa worked on steam locomotives back in the 60s and he swore by hand-riveting for anything built before 1940. He had this one story about a firebox repair where the owner insisted on welding and the whole thing cracked again within a year. He always said the old methods knew how to handle the heat cycles better. Of course he also used to put bacon grease on his joints to stop squeaks so maybe take that with a grain of salt. Did the old-timer mention anything about using a specific rivet pattern or just the method?

felix_martin567d ago

I remember reading a study from the 1930s that tested riveted joints against welded ones on boilers under thermal stress. The rivets actually allowed a tiny bit of movement that stopped stress cracks from forming in the steel. Welding locked everything down tight and the metal would just split along the heat affected zone after enough cycles. That bacon grease story is wild but the old timers had a point about how metals expand and contract differently.