Pop Rivets Out With a Self-Tapping Screw Instead of Drilling Them
The Problem
The standard way to remove a pop rivet is drilling it out — and it's fussier than it sounds. The bit wants to walk off the rounded head, a dull bit spins the rivet in its hole instead of cutting, and going one size too big enlarges the hole in the sheet metal you were trying to save. And sometimes the right bit simply isn't in the bag.
The Technique
- Grab a 5/16 self-tapping screw — the kind already rattling around any HVAC tool bag.
- Drive it straight into the rivet's center hole with your impact driver or nut driver.
- As the threads bite into the soft rivet body, the screw takes over the hole and pops the rivet out — no drilling, no walked bit, no oversized hole.
That's the whole trick: the screw does to the rivet what a drill bit would, except it grabs instead of cuts, so the rivet backs out in one piece.
Pro tip: This is fastest on the aluminum rivets common in ductwork and sheet-metal assemblies — the self-tapper's steel threads chew into aluminum easily. Keep the screw square to the rivet and let the threads pull it in at their own pace; leaning on it just distorts the sheet metal underneath.