I had an air cleaner powder coated and removed a tag that was originally riveted in place with two tiny solid aluminum rivets. Francois has a box of these little rivets in his shop that I would have normally gone down and gotten some on my next visit, but during this social distancing lockdown, we have both decided to avoid contact until things settle down. At 81, Francois does not need to be exposed to any contagion I could bring over. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

My next choice was to order some through mail order. McMaster Carr has packs of 500 rivets for under $5 bucks, but the shipping and handling fees will be at least that much or more, and there’s also been a significant slow down in mail delivery.

My final choice was just to make a pair from scratch. It took me a few minutes to set up my lathe to cut these 1/16 inch rivets, but I don’t think anyone can tell the difference between these and store bought ones. Besides, what was I going to do with my time these days?