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Advice please? Standard Rivet Application on a truck.
Hi all, Ive got some 40ft trailers to do in standard cut letters, (black) they are full of rivets, was going to use some standard polymeric vinyl, but after trying a sample on a riveted shipping container, it didnt go well, then tried some cast vinyl, it was better but i would have to do alot pricking holes to let the air out, so tried a air release vinyl, this was much better, its still alot of work to squeegee around every rivet, then i seen this on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7hsFPXqHqI I tried it, its in possible to do the channel thing, has anyone done this with the channel ??
Am I right in doing it with a air release vinyl the cost compared to cast is 3 x times the cost, I need 24m per trailer and Ive got 20 trailers to do.
or would I be better off using cast and doing alot of pricking / rivet brush ?
Thanks for any help
Gary
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3 Replies
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i have had a rollepro for about 7 years now and never once used it on rivets using the technique shown, however, i did buy it for that reason initially. 😀
to be honest, i have never had a need for it on anything other than a dozen rivets or so and thats few and far between. so i normally just opt for my normal method. which involves pricking the rivet and shaping the vinyl around. i can do it pretty quick anyway.
it is possible top do it using the method shown by shane, but there is a knack to it.
i havent tried it using air release media, only cast. i got it, but as i say, theres a knack and a few times i stuffed it up. obviously if you practice it for a couple of hours you will get it. but i dont do much rivets at all, so i have never took the time to master it and dont see me any time soon. 😀in the states its a big thing though, millions of rivets on the side of the aluminium trucks. nowadays i use my rollepro for masonry/brick/textured wall applications. its a handy tool to have…
the thing with rivets and so many. "on a truck" they move!
the vibration of the truck has them jumping about very slightly, but still movement.
if you use a calendered film it wont form as good nor stay in shape. coupled by the movement, the vinyl comes away, cracks and leaves an eye-sore multiplied by a million. :lol1: dont get me wrong cast will do similar, just not as bad and you have more chance of getting it right.
you will see them mention cutting around the rivet and sometimes removing the vinyl dome. this is for that reason.3M have a new tool that is really just something i remember using back in craft and design at high school but forget the name. its a bit like a centre punch but instead of a point it has circular cutter. a bit like an apple corer. basically you rock/rotate it over the rivet and cut away the vinyl head. (this might be better/faster for you) however, other than for GRP where there is no need for lots of rivets, i recon there is a huge risk of cutting into the paint and creating chips etc after all its a manual hand pressed thing multiplied hundreds of times! and we know the law of never cut onto paint!
rivet brushes… they obviously work and you can buy them from william smiths but i have never used one, even though i bought two sizes many years ago. smiths may also do the 3M circular cutter.
best of luck!
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On tarmac tippers with the insulated panels riveted on all I’ve done it squeegee up to the rivet, pop the bubble before it gets too big and then squeegee around the rivet and a heat gun to heat it up after.
I used Oracal 751c at the time I was doing a few, years later doing the same companies other vehicles and the tippers still looked good on the rivets. Can’t say the same for the scratched lettering but that’s not my problem 😉Steve
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ty for your replies, going to try hexis CAST HX20000 air release gloss black, ordered 2 mtrs to try first 🙂
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