Steel Rivets Forged in a Nail Header

A rivet is a short rod with a head on one end; set through a hole, its tail is hammered into a second head, and it holds the parts together for good. Solid rivets go back to the Bronze Age. They are forged the way nails are, headed in a nail header, only the shank is cut off square instead of drawn to a point. The picture: riggers setting red-hot rivets on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, 1930–31 (Sam Hood).