Pop Rivet Sword blades, Mini Tutorial.
Some basic tools are required for this.
Hammer. You will need a heavy hammer (I had a sledge hammer

but that is slightly overkill)
Sometime to hold the pop rivet. (I used mole grips for this)
A hard flat metal surface. (I used an anvil)
Something to grind the metal. (I used a bench grinder, but you could use a dremmel or even hand file it, but the bench grinder is by far the fastest method)
To finish the sword off.
Saw
Hand files or dremmel
Sand paper to polish it, if needed.
So basically we use the hammer to beat the crap out of the rivet. (if you are using a harder metal like that for a nail, you might have to heat the nail up to its malleable)
You should have something like (normally I would beat it more, but this will do for demo)
Over to the bench grinder.
This is where you shape the blade into what shape you want and start putting the cutting edges on.
This is where you are finished and the sword blade is ready for finishing.
At this point you can refine the sword more using handtools and polish it using sand paper if desired. You can cut the blade at the base and make a handle for it using whatever you fancy. but that is the basics of it.
When I get around to it I will do something more in-depth and make a complete weapon from start to finish.