"Waffled" rivets?????

[Steve Plucker]

Why did Ford use the Waffle type stamping of rivets in places where a domed rivet would of worked just the same?

Pluck

[john charlton]

The domed rivet does work as well all English built cars have domed rivets not waffled,even 30/31 AA truck cabs had them . It is a handy tool to see where the vehicle was made as some RHD South American cars are being passed off as English ,I have seen several . English cars being more desirable as not so worn out !!!


John in sunny morning Suffolk County England .

[Mike V. Florida]

My guess is the tooling used. The "handheld" riveter may have stayed on the rivet better with the waffle pattern than with a smooth rivet.

[Bob Bidonde]

The waffle prevented the rivet gun and or bucking bar from slipping off and damaging the adjacent structure / body panel.

[Rich in Tucson]

I suspect that all waffle head rivets were set cold with a pneumatic or hydraulic squeezer, nothing hand held or bucked like the tools we must use today. Perhaps the waffle aided in providing the proper lateral expansion of the rivet in the hole.

I have a mystery related to that, on a North Dakota origin 1929 pickup the 3 on each side cowl panel rivets to the firewall are thin, dead smooth flat heads (on the outside facing the hood). All of the 1929 cowls I have seen have waffle heads in these locations and I am wondering if this cowl was assembled in Canada? The rest of the 3/16" rivets on the firewall and subframe are waffle heads.

[Bob Bidonde]

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It matters not how the rivet was installed, by bucking, by stress wave or by squeezing, with or without heat. The waffle prevents tool slippage.


Hole fill is a function of the hole size and the initial rivet diameter, the rivet shank's initial length and the amount of upset.



An auxiliary function of the waffle may be to increase the diameter of the upset rivet's tail diameter.