The ancient portals, heirs of an ancestral technique : riveting

Riveting is a technique used to assemble metal parts using a specific tool : the rivet.
This rivet is a tool used to permanently assemble and fix metal objects. It comes from the manufacture of nails and was created by a blacksmith.

During the19th Century, the techniques of laying, manufacturing and dimensioning have massively evolved as well as the methods of riveting. Of all the different ways of riveting, it is the hot riveting which has known the biggest development. This method requires the intensive work of 3 people: the "driver", the «chauffeur», the «teneur de tas» et the «riveur».

This technique was used by all the iron craftsmen : boilermakers, locksmiths or blacksmiths who practiced this technique regularly. The development of the railways and the beginnings of shipbuilding in iron will definitely pass this technique into the domain of the industry.

Hand-hammer riveting thus brings to light an ancestral and artisanal technique that industrial civilization has not profoundly altered. However, this manual punching work was gradually replaced by more efficient pneumatic hammers requiring less physical effort.

Alain Bidal offers in its landscaped park in the heart of Provence, a large number of antique wrought iron gates and portals. Exceptional pieces, true witnesses of this ancestral know-how of riveting !