Pop rivets are used to join two pieces of thin material, such as plastic or aluminum, from one side, eliminating the need to access the back of the workpiece. (“Pop rivet” is actually a genericized term for the Stanley Engineered Fastening’s POP brand rivets.) These days, the rivet you will most likely encounter is a smaller, lighter-duty version called a blind or “pop” rivet. While one worker applied pressure to the head, another worker then peened over the tail protruding from the steel with a manual or pneumatic hammer. These rivets were thick iron plugs with mushroom-shaped heads that were heated until they were red-hot and placed into holes in the steel.
Before the widespread use of the structural bolt, rivets were used to join steel plates that became bridges, skyscrapers, tanks, airplanes, and ships. If you hear the word “rivet” and immediately think of an industrious woman named Rosie, your point of reference would be sometime in the last century.
