Rivet Smith

🔩 Parametric Plastic Rivet Smith — Generate Any Trim Clip You Need

Ever ripped a panel apart and lost three of those little plastic Christmas-tree clips? Snapped one trying to remove an interior trim? Bought a used appliance missing two fasteners and discovered the OEM part is unobtanium? Same. This tool fixes that.

Plastic push-pin rivets are one of the most common — and most annoying — fasteners in the world. They hold together car door panels, vacuum cleaners, PC cases, fridge interiors, kids' toys, and just about every cheap plastic enclosure on the planet. Cheap to make, impossible to find an exact match for, and they always break the moment you need one.

Instead of hunting for the right OEM part number, make your own. Hit Customize, dial in your dimensions, and download a print-ready 3MF tailored to your hole.

✨ What You Can Adjust

• Top convexity — flat washer-style disc or full mushroom dome, anywhere in between.
• Top width — match any flange diameter, from low-profile washers to wide trim caps.
• Shaft width — sized to your panel hole. No more "almost fits."
• Retention barb size — bigger barbs grip thicker panels and looser holes; smaller barbs slip into tight tolerances cleanly.
• Bonus controls — number of barbs, barb height, shaft length, tip taper, and compression-slot width for fine-tuning to specific panel thicknesses.

🛠 Where It Fits

• 🚗 Automotive interior trim, door cards, bumper liners, fender guards
• 🪑 Flat-pack furniture reinforcement and Ikea panel rescue
• 💻 PC side panels, server rack covers, network gear
• 🧺 Appliance trim, fridge shelving, washer/dryer panels
• 🪟 Window blind brackets, RV interiors, boat fittings

🖨 Print Recommendations

Functional clips need flex. PETG is the sweet spot — strong enough to grip, flexible enough that the barbs snap past the panel instead of shearing off. TPU 95A if you want maximum compliance and reusability. Skip plain PLA for anything load-bearing or repeatedly removed — it'll snap on the first install.

• Walls: 4
• Top/bottom: 5
• Infill: 60–80% gyroid (or solid for the smallest sizes)
• Orientation: cap down, tip up — no supports needed
• Layer height: 0.16 mm or finer for clean barb edges

📐 Under the Hood

Generated from a clean OpenSCAD script: circular-segment math for the dome, stacked truncated cones for the fir-tree barbs, and a through-slot that gives the shaft its compression flex. Parameters are independent, so tweaking one dimension won't break the rest of the geometry.

Print one. Check the fit. Adjust by 0.1 mm if you need to. Then print a strip of ten and never lose another clip.

If this saves you a trip to the dealer parts counter, a 👍 boost helps it reach the next person stuck with a missing clip. Happy printing!