Rivets are one of the oldest and most reliable types of fasteners. Rivets consist simply of a shaft and head which are deformed with a hammer or rivet gun. Usually one head is factory formed while the other is formed by clinching metal after the rivet has been inserted. Rivets are used today in applications where reliability and safety count. The setting of solid rivet requires access to both sides of a structure. Solid rivets are driven using a squeezing tool or even hand held hammers.