Removing rivets?

Can't think of one.  Not sure how you'd break drill bits removing a rivet.  Pics would help.

How large is the rivet, and how large were the drill bits you broke?

Also, more curious than anything else, where is this drill-eating-rivet located?

I have never had much trouble drilling them out, but assuming you are trying to remove a 1/8" rivet and are trying to drill off the crown (the flared hat on the outside), you need a drill bit large enough to essentially cut the cap off so you can pop the sleeve ( the part that the nail goes through ) through the material and remove it.  This is usually a 3/16" to 1/4" drill, both pretty hard to break.  You don't want to try a smaller drill because it will push up against the nail, which will just spin and nothing more will happen until the drill gets hot and breaks - but you found that out.

Sometimes I get a rivet that isn't tight in the hole and just spins when I attempt to drill it.  when that happens, I get out my trusty Dremel tool with a cut-off wheel and carefully grind of the rivet crown and then drive the sleeve out with a punch or nail.

Hope this helps.

The Techno-Geek

Here is the pic.  I was using a small bit, 1/8 inch at the direction of the guy who put my outside BBQ station in.  

Yeah, you want the bit to be a little bigger than the hole through the rivet. 3/16 or 1/4 maybe. If it's a little too big, not a problem: as soon as that crown thing breaks you stop drilling so as not to make a bigger hole. Then, if necessary, just punch out the rest of the rivet with a metal thing the size of the hole.

Thank God it's a BBQ.  I thought you were doing this on your IM!

IM, BBQ.......What's the difference?

Price!

Dang, Ed, you beat me to it.

Rivets came out in like 20 seconds each.  Thanks again.  I should have asked first instead of using that little drill bit; I spent and hour to take out one rivet over the weekend.

Visuals here at EAA:

http://www.eaavideo.org/video.aspx?v=1472379714