Went to fit a Regina chain last night (the snapped chain saga continues) and the Motion Pro riveter I was using wasn't up to the job (it snapped).......I'm due to go abroad tomorrow, and I just wondered if any of you guys had advice on riveting without a tool? The link appears to be made out of the same material as the rest of the chain (ulike the DID which was much softer and riveted a treat)......not unless any of you DSC guys are up in the Durham area have a chain riveter which would deal with a link like this.....that I could borrow this evening Ta Neil
Do it the old fashioned way.......... peen the heads of the rivets over with a small ball pein hammer. Press the plate over the rivets and down to the correct position. Measure over the already made plates and press the plate down to this same dimension. Tension the chain up tight, to stop it flapping about, and hold a small block of steel or such like against the back of the rivet to be riveted and then pein the head over with the ball of a hammer. It'll take a bit of time and patience, but it'll do the job. Just make sure the heads are sufficiently riveted to hold the plate in place. When you've done, tension the chain as normal and you'll be sorted.
As much as I hate to sound like a luddite,chain riveters are a waste of money.Two big hammers mate!,one firmly held against the back of the link ,the other to (gently) round over the head of the link,just be careful not to overdo it and pinch the sideplate and restrict the movement of the link. If I can do it,then a monkey could!
I have mixed feelings about any suggestions that a backyard mechanic should assemble a drive chain by hand-peening the master link.
If you don’t want to invest in the proper tool, then why not temporarily install a clip-style master link and then ride down to a local shop to have them press-on the rivet master link. That way, you won't have to worry about pinching the chain too tight or splitting the rivet head.
There’s a lot of cheap tools on the market that won’t last. The only tool I can recommend using is the $139 Motion Pro Jumbo Chain Tool.
Thanks for the tips fellas (and the offer of the riveter Jasper!).......I got a few punches from work (and a large pin of hardened metal to use as a mini anvil) dropped the chain off the sprockets and riveted both heads over to the same effect as the rest of the chain......looks like the job's a good-un!
From an absolute ignoramous Have the old style links with a "elongated circlip" gone out of fashion, I seem to remember in the 60's and 70's that that was all there was....... If they are still available it could always be used as a get you home affair? rgds mort
no. The DID use a counter bored soft link that really needs swaging out using the swaging tip found on most chain riveters. These links are a lot easier to rivet with a tool as opposed to the solid pins used on Regina or Tsubaki. Peening them too much with a hammer usually ends up in the pin breaking along the bottom of the counter bore and then it's scrap..........