Attribute Schema Library
Attribute schemafastener distribution

Blind Rivets Attributes

A blind rivet is a two-part fastener — tubular body plus mandrel — set from one side of the joint. Buyers are OEM production, MRO storerooms, sheet metal and HVAC fabricators, truck body and trailer builders, and gutter contractors. A distributor's line spans 3/32 in to 1/4 in bodies in aluminum, steel, stainless, Monel and copper, across open end, closed end, multi-grip and structural styles.

The data is hard because the rivet is described by a code, not by specs. Suppliers ship line items like AD44ABS or 4-4 AL/ST DH — diameter in 32nds, grip in 16ths, everything else compressed into letters no two manufacturers use the same way. Metric suppliers send 3,2 x 8 with a comma decimal; domestic suppliers send inches.

What buyers filter on — grip range as min/max, recommended hole size, single shear and tensile, whether the mandrel locks — sits in a datasheet table, not the line item. And one rivet family is hundreds of SKUs differing by two digits.

Core

Every SKU needs these. Without them the record is not a product, it is a row.

Rivet Type / Style
enum
Open End

Separates the four things a buyer is actually choosing between: general sheet joint, watertight, variable stack, or load-bearing.

Body Diameter
number · mm
3.2 mm (1/8 in, -4)

First cut on every rivet search. Drives hole size, tool nosepiece and strength band. Sold as 3/32, 1/8, 5/32, 3/16, 1/4 in.

Grip Range (Min-Max)
range · in
0.063 in - 0.125 in

The stack thickness the set rivet holds. Under minimum the joint is loose; over maximum the rivet never sets. The decisive spec.

Body Length
number · in
0.375 in

Physical dimension buyers measure against a sample in hand. Not the same as grip, and constantly confused with it.

Head Style
enum
Dome (protruding)

Dome for general work, countersunk for flush finish, large flange to spread load on thin or soft panels. Changes the hole prep.

Rivet Body Material
enum
Aluminum 5052

Sets corrosion behavior and base strength, and must be matched to the panels to avoid a galvanic pair.

Mandrel Material
enum
Steel, zinc plated

Independent of body material. Drives shear and tensile, and a steel stub in an aluminum body rust-stains outdoors.

Recommended Hole Size / Drill
range · in
0.129-0.133 in (#30 drill)

Buyers start from the hole they have. Clearance runs about 0.003-0.005 in over body diameter; the drill number is what they ask for.

Finish (Body / Mandrel)
enum
Plain / Plain

Plain, zinc, or painted head to match the panel. Filtered separately for body and mandrel because they are often plated differently.

Pack Quantity
number · pieces
500

Rivets sell in boxes, not eaches. Price comparison is meaningless without it and cart math breaks.

Manufacturer Part Number
identifier
AD44ABS

How the buyer reorders and how the RFQ arrives. Carries the coded size the buyer cannot always decode.

GTIN / UPC
identifier
UPC-A 12-digit; GTIN-14 for case packs

Required to list on marketplaces and to match against distributor and customer item masters. Case packs need GTIN-14.

Differentiating

What buyers actually compare on. This is where catalogs win or lose the filter.

Single Shear Strength
number · lbf
460 lbf

The number engineers size the joint on and the number RFQs are won on. Varies widely by body/mandrel pair.

Tensile Strength
number · lbf
560 lbf

Pull-out resistance for joints loaded normal to the panel. Quoted alongside shear on every datasheet.

Mandrel Retention Type
enum
Mechanically locked

Locked mandrel vs break-off is the structural/standard divide. Retention keeps shear and resists vibration loosening.

Closed End / Sealed
boolean
false

Closed-end rivets stay sealed after setting for vapour and liquid tight joints. Buyers search this as waterproof or sealed.

Compliance & identifiers

Standards, regulatory data, and the identifiers channels reject you for missing.

Specification Met
enum
ISO 15977

Drawings call out a standard, not a brand. Buyers filter to the spec to prove the substitute is legitimate.

Country of Origin
identifier
TW

Needed for duty, for customer origin rules, and for government and defense end-use screening at order entry.

The fields that aren't in the schema at all

What most blind rivets catalogs are missing.

The table above is the schema most catalogs already have. These are the attributes that usually aren't in it — each one surfaced by a signal from the live market rather than by an audit of what's already there. This is what Anglera's Schema Foundry does on a real catalog, in this category.

Competitor signal
+ Mandrel Material

Grainger and Fastenal filter Mandrel Material separately from Rivet Body Material. Most catalogs carry one 'Material' field, so aluminum/aluminum and aluminum/steel collapse into 'Aluminum'.

Al/Al and Al/steel differ by roughly 150 lbf shear at 1/8 in, and a steel stub rust-stains an aluminum body outdoors. Wrong part ships; coastal job comes back.

Search signal
+ Mandrel Retention Type

Buyers search 'locked mandrel rivet' and 'vibration resistant rivet'. Structural lines (Magna-Lok, Monobolt, Interlock) are branded, not attributed — nothing on the record says the mandrel locks.

Structural rivets get quoted against standard open-end on price and lose the RFQ. Buyers who need full mandrel retention cannot filter to it at all.

Marketplace signal
+ Recommended Hole Size / Drill Number

Marketplace Q&A on rivet listings is dominated by 'what size hole do I drill?', and buyers search 'rivet for #30 hole'. Catalogs list body diameter only, so the question has nowhere to land.

Hole undersize and the rivet won't seat; oversize and the joint is loose. Counter and support field the drill question by phone instead of the filter answering it.

Supplier signal
+ Grip Range as numeric min/max

Grip arrives as free text in the description ('1/8 x 1/4') or folded into the part number's second digit. There is no min/max pair to build a slider or a 'fits my stack' filter on.

The most decisive spec in the category cannot be filtered. Under-grip leaves a loose joint, over-grip leaves an unset rivet — both come back as returns.

Supplier signal
+ Blind-Side Clearance

Datasheets publish the clearance the set rivet needs behind the panel; catalogs almost never carry it. It surfaces only when a buyer asks whether the rivet will foul a tube wall.

In closed cavities, tube and channel work the rivet bulbs against the back wall or won't set. Discovered on the line, not at order entry.

How Schema Foundry finds these

Messy in, governed out.

The same value, spelled every way fastener distribution suppliers spell it. A filter only works once they agree.

Body Diameter
1/80.125.125"-43.2mm3,2
3.2 mm (1/8 in)

US dash numbers count 32nds; EU suppliers send comma decimals. One rivet, six spellings, none of them sortable.

Body / Mandrel Material
AL/STAlum/SteelA/SRBAS5052/1006Alum Body/Steel Mand
Aluminum body / Steel mandrel

Body and mandrel must be two fields. Collapsed into one 'Material' value, the strength and corrosion story disappears.

Head Style
DomeDomed HeadProtrudingRound HeadStd FlangeDH
Dome (protruding)

ISO says protruding head, US catalogs say dome, part codes say DH. Large flange is a separate value, not a synonym.

Grip Range
1/16-1/80.063-0.125.063"-.125"1.6-3.2mmgrip 2-2
min 1.60 mm / max 3.18 mm

Text grip ranges cannot drive a slider. Split to two numbers in one unit or the category's key filter never ships.

What buyers ask

Every one of these should be answerable from the attributes above. If it isn't, that's a gap.

  • What size hole do I drill for a 1/8 in rivet?
  • My panel stack is 0.190 in — which grip range covers that?
  • Will an aluminum rivet with a steel mandrel rust on an outdoor sign?
  • Which of these actually seals? It has to be watertight on a trailer fender.
  • What's the single shear on this versus a structural rivet?
  • Does the mandrel stay locked in, or will it rattle out under vibration?
  • What is AD44ABS in plain English — what diameter and grip is that?
  • Can I set this with my standard nosepiece or do I need a special tip?

What channels require

The same SKU, different mandatory fields per destination.

Distributor's own faceted site
Body DiameterGrip Range (min/max)Rivet Body MaterialMandrel MaterialHead StyleRecommended Hole Size
Amazon Business
GTIN / UPCManufacturer Part NumberBrandPack QuantityCountry of OriginUNSPSC code
Punchout / hosted catalog (cXML, CIF)
UNSPSC codeManufacturer Part NumberUnit of MeasurePack QuantityCountry of OriginLead Time
ETIM / GDSN data pool
GTINETIM class codeBody DiameterGrip RangeRivet Body MaterialCountry of Origin

Blind Rivets data, in practice

What's the difference between grip range and rivet length?

Length is the physical body dimension; grip range is the material stack the set rivet actually holds. They are not interchangeable, and buyers select on grip. A 1/8 in rivet with a 0.375 in body might carry a 0.063-0.125 in grip. Below the minimum the joint stays loose because the rivet never upsets fully; above the maximum the mandrel breaks before the blind head forms properly. Catalogs listing only length force the buyer to reverse-engineer grip from the part number's second digit, which counts grip in 16ths of an inch. Carry both, and carry grip as a min and a max in a single unit so it can drive a filter.

Does Mandrel Material really need to be separate from body material?

Yes. Grainger and Fastenal both filter the two independently, because the pair determines strength and corrosion behavior. An all-aluminum 1/8 in rivet lands near 300 lbf single shear; the same body with a steel mandrel is meaningfully stronger, because the steel stem retains in the body. But that steel stub corrodes inside an aluminum body outdoors and stains the panel, which is why coastal and marine work specifies an aluminum body with a stainless mandrel, or all 316 stainless. A single collapsed 'Material: Aluminum' field expresses none of this — and it is the field most catalogs have.

Which standards actually apply to blind rivets?

For commercial open-end break-mandrel rivets the live standards are ISO: 15977 (aluminium alloy body, steel mandrel, protruding head), 15979 (steel body, steel mandrel, protruding head) and 15983 (A2 austenitic stainless body and mandrel), covering nominal diameters in the 2.4-6.4 mm band. DIN 7337 is the legacy German designation, withdrawn in favour of EN ISO 15977 — but suppliers still quote it and buyers still search it, so keep it as a synonym rather than deleting it. In the US, IFI-114 covers blind rivets. Aerospace blind rivets run on separate NAS and MS specs and should not be folded into the commercial schema.

Why do structural blind rivets need their own attribute?

Because 'structural' is a mechanical property, not a marketing tier. A standard rivet's mandrel breaks off and is not retained; the stub can vibrate out, leaving a hollow body with much lower shear. A structural rivet mechanically locks the mandrel into the body, retaining it and filling the hole, which raises shear and pull-out and holds up under vibration. Today that meaning lives in brand names — Magna-Lok, Monobolt, Interlock — which makes it invisible to filters. Model it as Mandrel Retention, with values like Break-off (non-retained) and Mechanically locked. Installation differs too: Monobolt needs a specific nosepiece to lock correctly; Magna-Lok sets with standard tips.

More fastener distribution schemas

Concrete AnchorsHex BoltsHex NutsSocket Head Cap ScrewsThreaded RodWashers

Run this against your own blind rivets.

Bring the category. We'll show you which of these attributes your catalog is missing — and the ones we find that aren't on this page yet.

Book a demo