Postby Steve Perry » August 14th, 2017, 5:03 pm
I presume you are using domed rivets, the cosmetic way to fit them is to countersink the back of the plate, cut the rivet so that it sticks out of the countersunk side about 1/2 the shank diameter, put the dolly in the vice and support the dome of the rivet in it, use the ball end of a hammer to beat the shank into the countersunk hole spreading it out.
The rivet needs to be no harder than the sheet you are fitting it to, aluminum rivets may need annealing before use, duralumin ones need to be freshly annealed before use as they start to harden.