[MikeK]

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Rivets changed drastically in composition metallurgy and manufacturing technique after WWII. The old rivets were dead soft out of the box because they were headed hot in manufacturing and the alloy annealed dead soft. They cold-set well with both air and hand tools. Most boxes of new rivets are made by cold-rolling and cold-heading. The result is work-hardened metal, out of the box. That property sometimes makes cold setting difficult. Line them up on a fire brick, heat red with a torch, allow them to air cool. Voila! Annealed. They now cold-set easily, like NOS 20's-30's rivets.