cook

In hot-rivetting work, the cook is the team member responsible for heating rivets to forging temperature in a portable brazier or furnace before they are driven home by the riveter. The cook maintains a steady supply of rivets at the correct heat, typically cherry red, around 750 to 900 degrees Celsius depending on the rivet material and the joint being formed, and passes them to the catcher or bucking team using tongs or a carrying rod.

The cook's role demands consistent judgment about heat color and timing. Rivets heated too cool will not form a proper head when struck; rivets overheated become brittle and may fail under load. Coal or coke braziers, still common in structural steel work and shipyard rivetting, require the cook to manage fuel, air draft, and the arrangement of rivets within the heat to achieve even warming. The cook watches for the moment when a rivet reaches working color and must pace the heating to match the rivetting crew's speed.

Timing and coordination between cook, catcher, and riveter determine the quality and speed of the joint. A slow cook holds up production; a cook who delivers rivets too hot or too cold forces the riveter to reheat or discard stock. On large jobs, multiple cooks may work in rotation, especially when heating specialized fasteners or when the brazier is far from the rivetting point and rivets lose heat in transit.

The cook's skill lies in reading heat without instruments. Modern installations may use induction furnaces or electric heaters with pyrometers, but the traditional brazier cook relies on experience and the naked eye. Burns and eye strain are occupational hazards of the role. The term reflects the kitchen metaphor: the cook prepares the materials, the riveter assembles them.