Finishing off roves

lesweeks

lesweeks

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Following advice from an earlier post I'm replacing a number of nails and roves where the original roves have disintegrated. I now have nails through the roves which are hardened up nicely and I've trimmed a bit off the end of the nail (sadly I couldn't get them the length that I really wanted so there's wasted cash in the bilge at the moment). The question is how should the nail/rove be finished? Some of the old nails seem to be bent over whilst others seem to be riveted down onto the rove. The latter looks best but is it just peined over or finished like a metalworking rivet with a set and snap?
I apologise if this has been discussed before but I haven't had any success with the search facility (who has!).
 
Rivet them over. I did so on many many nails and roves on my wooden sloop. It is said that a proper rivet should not snag a pair of ladies nylons when draped over the finished rove??!!
Loads of fun
 
I wouldn't recommend anyone to wear nylons on my boat! Point taken.
Thanks John, and thanks for the thread links Sarabande; that's help clear up most of my concerns. My main problem now is finding a dolly bearer (or six).
 
I did similar on a friends boat ages ago. Ball pein hammer - not the heftiest engineers weight. For the dolly I went to a scrappie who found me some thick, steel discs to thread on a long bolt; then a wood circle counterbored for the bolt head so it snugged into shoulder. No suggestions for a rove punch - I had a bit of fun turning one up on the lathe.
 
I'm helping a friend restore a 1930 Thornecroft and he's doubling up and replacing 240 ribs, so he's buying nails and roves by the ton!!!!!!

His method is to drill an undersized hole through the planks and new oak rib and counter sunk so the head is recessed into the plank. Drive the nail through slightly greased with candle wax this prevents bending under pressure. The rove is driven over the nail using an old deep socket, though a piece of pipe would do.
A mate is required for this to prevent the nail being driven out again. We first tried a club hammer with bolt welded to the face, this is held against the recessed nail head for fitting the rove and peening it over after trimming for length.
The hammer proved too heavy for a full days roving so my friend came up with his own design. A 1ft length of 1inch square tube, with a 4inch length weld across one end this is padded and fits into the shoulder. About 3/4 along anoth piece of tube is welded on to form a handle and a bolt is welded on the other long end. The tool looks alot like a machine gun and with it we are completing 19-20 ribs a day, thats some 200 roves.

I'm glad to say there's only about another 50 ribs to do.
 
Thanks for the descriptions, we ought to have some pictures of devices and tools that forumites have made to make life easier whilst doing the thousand and one jobs that we do. One thing I'm still not sure about; when driving the rove onto the nail where should the tool be in relation to the rove? By this I mean close around the nail (so a deep but smallish hole - say 4 or 5 mm) - in the end of a suitable bar or close the circumference of the rove (in my case a hole just under 1/2").
Tell me that and I'm on my way!
 
The tool head should be at least half the diameter of the nail head. The tool to drive the rove washer over the nail and up to the inboard face just needs a hole that the nail will fit into and deep enough for the rove the reach the timber surface. The rove does not need to be recessed only the nail head if you want to fill over, fair off and paint the outside face.
Sorry I don't have any photos of the tool and as I'm off the Vietnam on thurs won't have time to take any.
 
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