A rivet making machine and method in which a stationary set of angularly spaced head forming tools and a ram supported reciprocable set of body working tools are aligned at angularly spaced stations with each other and with a set of body dies carried by a rotatable indexing disc for successive positioning at the work stations. The body dies are independently movable axially of the indexing plate as necessary for cooperation of the head forming and body working tools on a blank carried by each body die. Blank cut-off is effected by a shearing die pair, one die pair being established at the end of each body die opposite the end thereof cooperating with the head forming tools. The other of the shearing die pair may be a fixed die in which relative movement of the shearing die pair is accomplished by indexing movement of the body dies. Alternatively, a shearing tool establishing the other die of the pair may be moved independently of body die indexing.

The present invention provides for fastener inserts and methods of manufacturing the same. The fastener inserts include selectively removable tangs which can be broken away more cleanly than with other commercially available fastener inserts. Further, the methods of manufacture offer a significant improvement in the production process.

The present invention provides for fastener inserts and methods of manufacturing the same. The fastener inserts include selectively removable tangs which can be broken away more cleanly than with other commercially available fastener inserts. Further, the methods of manufacture offer a significant improvement in the production process.

A technique for producing soldering iron tips entails cutting clad wire into a plurality of segments, each segment comprising a core of material (such as copper) and an outer protective layer (such as stainless steel, Ni, Cr, or alloy thereof). Each clad wire segment is then shaped into a soldering iron tip by a cold or hot heading process, or other metal forming process. In the finished tip, the protective outer layer is disposed behind the working area of the tip, and serves to reduce the corrosion of the tip, and to improve the electrical conductivity between the tip and the soldering iron handle. A heater element can be formed at one end of the soldering iron tip from the same clad wire segment used to produce the tip itself, thereby ensuring good thermal transfer properties between the heater element and the tip. The invention also pertains to a technique for forming a protective outer layer on the working area of the tip. The technique comprises stamping caps from a thin strip or sheet of protective material, such as iron. More specifically, the caps are stamped out of the sheet using a die having a shape which resembles the shape of the working area of the soldering tip. The caps formed in this manner are then inserted over the ends of the tips, and attached thereto by applying brazing material to the formed cap or to the strip of material prior to forming the cap.